It's Dangerous to Go Alone: A Mavin Fanfiction
by nrnatari
Summary: When Michael starts to have feelings for his best friend Gavin, things start to get a little out of hand - and neither of them are quite expecting the adventures - or consequences - that come of it.
1. Chapter 1

**It's Dangerous to Go Alone**

A Mavin Fanfiction

"I – _fuck!_"

Michael's profanity was, as usual, met with a chorus of laughter from the guys. It was a hot afternoon in Austin, and Geoff had somehow convinced them to get up off their lazy asses and finally record the Let's Play Minecraft they'd been avoiding since that morning. Ryan was especially reluctant to start recording, since he knew it was his turn to edit the video, which was downright torture, plain and simple.

"Are you all right, Michael?" laughed Gavin, turning away from his screen to look at the enraged man in real life.

"I'm fuckin' fine, Gavin, I only fell into this giant goddamn hole because my screen wouldn't load – _god damn it!_"

Jack couldn't stop snickering. "We're only five minutes into this Let's Play and Michael's already going to pop a capillary."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," chimed in Ray. "L-l-l-l-l-let's play!"

"Shut up, Ray, oh my god." Now that Michael had respawned and was more or less catching up with the rest of the guys' characters, he was reverting back to his normal self – keeping in mind that his "normal self" was still a relatively angry motherfucker.

A British accent piped up next to him. "I'll wait for you, Michael!" Gavin's Creeper character stopped running.

Michael couldn't keep from smiling. "Thanks, man."

The rest of the Let's Play proceeded almost with no major mishaps at all. The lads and gents found an Enderman to trap in front of Geoff almost instantly. But about twenty minutes in, Michael once again found a way to suffocate in a wall due to the fact that the loading was slow as dicks.

"Fuck me!" he yelled. The only bed he'd slept in, therefore his spawn point, happened to be extremely far from where everybody was.

"Okay," Gavin joked. "Don't you want me to buy you a drink, first?"

Geoff damn near exploded into high-pitched laughter. Ray, smiling, rubbed his forehead briefly with one hand.

"God damn it, Gavin." Michael laughed, but for some reason he felt uneasy.

"Somethin' you two want to tell us?" Ryan joked. It was the first thing he'd said all Let's Play. He was still bitter about having to edit.

Michael decided to play along. "Geoff, remember all those times Gavin came home really late?"

"Yeah?"

"We were, uh, at my place. Sorry you had to find out this way."

"Buncin' dicks," added Gavin suddenly.

Everyone burst into laughter.

Geoff, after a while, finally pulled himself together. "This is already so many people's favorite Let's Play, just fuckin' because of _that_."

"Tumblr's gonna die," agreed Jack.

Michael laughed his signature laugh, a raspy giggle that all the Rooster Teeth fans knew and loved. It wasn't as if it was abnormal for Gavin to flirt with him during Let's Plays. Hell, he did it all the time, especially recently. The fans loved it, too. He stole a glance at Gavin and winked in what he hoped was a seductive manner. Gavin raised and lowered his eyebrows and bit his lip.

Ray shook his head and chuckled. "This is the gayest thing ever."

* * *

Michael couldn't seem to focus on anything for the rest of the day. For some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about the Let's Play. Ryan decided he was going to be a lazy shit and sat on the couch across from Michael's, avoiding the horror that was the editing. Gavin and Geoff were standing on the other side of the room, talking to Barb.

Michael caught himself staring intently at Gavin's face for some reason. Gavin was growing a considerable amount of sandy brown scruff on his face. It was probably scratchy to the touch and – and Ryan was saying something.

"Wha – huh? Sorry, man, can you say again?"

"Are there any Legend of Zelda games you don't own?"

Michael tried to think. It took him a second or two more than usual to process what Ryan had said. Michael wondered if he was tipsy, but it was two in the fucking afternoon and he hadn't had alcohol at all today. "Uh, yeah, Majora's Mask. My copy got ruined when I threw my old Xbox across the room and it landed on it."

"Dude, are you all right?" Ryan asked, tilting his head quizzically.

Michael blinked slowly, then smiled at Ryan. "Uh, yeah, man, I'm fine." _What the fuck is wrong with me?_

Ryan leaned in and whispered, so Geoff couldn't hear, "Are you drunk?"

"Dude, I don't get drunk at the office."

At that moment, Gavin turned to look at Michael and waved innocently. Michael, for some reason he couldn't understand, forcefully sucked in air through his nose, like he'd forgotten to breathe for a while but suddenly remembered.

_Wave back, dipshit! _He mechanically waved at Gavin. Gav smiled like a fucking idiot, his white teeth shining bright. Michael wondered if he would shave soon. The scruff on his face was getting really long, so long that maybe someone could run their fingers through it and – and – whoa. What the fuck? What the _fuck_ was going on?

Michael checked his watch. Well, it was 2:02. He could probably have a beer.

Over the course of the next couple days, Michael felt more and more aggravated with himself. He couldn't stop zoning out, and he wasn't sure why. Whenever Gavin was in the room, Michael seemed to gravitate towards him. And the worst part was that Gavin didn't push him away, or laugh him off, or even seem uncomfortable. He'd put his fucking arm around Michael's shoulder and pull him even closer, until there was not a hair of space between them. It made Michael's head spin. And he fucking hated every second of it.

He found himself paying more and more attention to the shit Gavin did at the office or even during Let's Plays. He wasn't sure why, but every time things would get quiet when the guys were all playing, or when Gavin was on the other side of the room, Michael would turn to look at him for some reason.

Like one time, Michael was editing in the office and he could hear Caleb and Gavin laughing about something, probably the stupidest fucking thing on the whole goddamn planet as usual but he wanted nothing more than to turn off the computer and go find out what was so _fucking funny_. Or when he'd hear nothing but Gavin's voice from down the hall and his heart would pound. _His heart would pound_. He was Michael Fucking "Rage Quit" Jones. He was from New Jersey. And his heart was pounding.

At the Rooster Teeth office in the break room, Michael downed his second beer as he sat on the couch, watching the screen but not watching what it was playing. It was 1:40 in the afternoon. He was way too confused with his own goddamn weird behavior, so he decided he just wouldn't do anything, and see what happened then. Luckily, he was done recording everything that he needed to record, including a particularly angry Rage Quit.

And who would show up at that moment then but the very person whose fault this whole ordeal was? Gavin plopped down on the couch next to him – right next to him. He grinned contentedly at Michael for a moment. Michael, blood rushing through his ears – _Why is blood rushing through my ears_? – smiled shakily back at Gavvers.

"Are you watching America's Next Top Model?" Gavin inquired after a moment, looking at the screen and then back at Michael and raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know," Michael said, playing it cool. He decided to make a joke. "I just really think Cassandra has a shot at it."

Gavin laughed. _Oh my god, his laugh._ Michael had never noticed how Gavvy – Gavin – got little crow's feet by his eyes when he laughed, or how immeasurably green his eyes were but how they still managed to look blue. His heart skipped a beat when Gavin laughed and Michael flushed a shade of red that he was not particularly proud of.

Gavin reached for the remote on the coffee table. "D'you mind?"

Michael shook his head stupidly.

In the middle of flipping through channels, Gavin glanced at the near-empty beer in Michael's hand. "You're trembling. I think you should probably stop drinking."

Michael examined his hand for a moment and slowly put the beer down. "Yeah," he agreed softly. "I should."

Michael had no fucking idea what was happening to him. Why was he acting this way? Why couldn't he focus?

_Why couldn't he stop thinking about Gavin?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Don't look at him. Don't even talk to him._

Michael gloomily walked into the Rooster Teeth office that morning, and, upon seeing Gavin talking to Kara at the desk, proceeded to give himself these strict instructions and trudged past the oblivious Brit.

Michael's behavior had gone from abnormal to downright bizarre. He seemed to want Gavin next to him at all times, wanted to always be talking to him and hear him say things in his soft, _stupid_, silky accent. At the same time, however, he wanted Gavin nowhere near him. After all, whenever Gavin was around his heart would thud as if he was playing Dead Space or something. Everything Gavin did, even everything he said, filled Michael with a frustration he couldn't describe.

He had no idea what was going on, but he hated it. And he hated Gavin. Why did his head start spinning when Gavin sat so close to him that he could smell his cologne? Why did he feel warmth in the pit of his stomach whenever Gavin uttered Michael's name in his dumb fucking British accent? Why was he suddenly so curious about what Gavin's hair felt like if you ran your hand through it? And when Gavin stood up sometimes, why, _why _in the name of all that is holy, were all of Michael's thoughts about Gavin's ass? Michael couldn't even hear the word "ass" without blushing for the rest of the day after a Gavin-dropped-something-and-bent-down-to-pick-it-u p incident.

He found himself avoiding Gavin whenever he could. He tried his hardest to speak to him as little as possible during the Let's Plays, while still seeming non-hostile so the fans wouldn't freak out, which was not a very easy thing to do. Gavin was usually the only one who could be in the room when Michael was recording a Rage Quit, but he started locking the door to record them. He was conversing with Gavin less and less, which made him angrier and angrier, since for some reason all he wanted to do was to talk to the stupid fucker and find out how he was doing.

Michael knew he was achieving new levels of lameness when he realized the only thing he wanted in the world was to find out how Gavin Free was doing. He settled for the beer.

"Hi Michael!" Gavin seemed to appear out of nowhere next to Michael at the fridge as he was pulling the can out. He nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Gavin!" Michael exclaimed, like an idiot.

"That Let's Play was fun, huh?" Gavin said cheerfully. Michael could barely focus, the way Gavin was…licking his lips like that. He also noticed that Gavin finally shaved. His face looked smooth. In his pocket, Michael's hand clenched into a fist.

"It won't look so fun in the editing software."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Gavin said apologetically, leaning casually on the fridge. It was Michael's turn to edit.

"Whatever." Michael practically ran away, leaving Gavin cocking his head in confusion. His heart wouldn't stop racing. He felt dizzy, and his face was hotter than the fucking entirety of Texas.

He ventured down the hall and finally stumbled into the bathroom, where he pulled off his hat and rubbed at his blurring eyes. He leaned back in front of the mirror, then forward, trying to get the image of himself to focus. He looked at the can of beer, which he'd left on the sink counter. It was his first beer of the day. He hadn't had any alcohol.

Michael realized what was going on so suddenly it seemed to knock the wind out of him. He exhaled slowly, and wondered how fucking stupid he had to be to not realize it earlier. He ran a hand through his rich red curls, closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths as he did so.

He opened his eyes slowly and looked back at his own reflection in the mirror. Six words ran through his mind. Six words swam out amidst the confusion and downright jackassery that Michael's brain had managed to concoct within the last week or so. Six short words that changed everything.

_Oh my god. I like Gavin._

* * *

Michael went straight from the bathroom to editing the video. He didn't want to think about the G-word, didn't want to look at the G-word, didn't even want to _say_ the G-word.

_But if I have feelings for—_

_ Shut the fuck up._

_ Does that make me—_

_ Stop._

_ Could he ever like m—_

_ Fucking shut the fuck up!_

Michael clicked the mouse with much more force than was actually necessary, which would have been quite comical considering his current facial expression was one of complete and utter fucking infuriation, paired with the pathetic little _click_ of the mouse. But no matter how angry he was with himself, no matter how many times he drifted off and caught himself before the thought was even complete, there was one word he couldn't interrupt no matter how hard he tried.

_Gavin._

He'd been editing for an hour. He wasn't even done with the first five minutes of the video.

_Gavin, Gavin, Gavin._

He clicked again. Let's look at Jack's screen for a while. And not Gavin's.

_I wonder where Gavin is._

Yep, Jack. Good ol' Jack. He was actually doing quite some interesting things at that point in time, unlike—

_Gavin. Is he talking to someone? I wonder what he's saying._

Michael let out an audible noise of frustration with himself. There was no way he was going to be done editing any time soon. It was going to be the shittiest video on YouTube. It was going to be the shittiest video ever. Geoff would fire him, and he'd skip town. Change his name. Fucking _work_ for a living. All because of that dumbass—

"Michael?" a soft British accent cooed from the slightly-open door.

Michael jumped so high and so fast that his knee hit the bottom of the desk.

"Son of a bitch!" Michael shouted, clutching his knee. "What the hell do you want, Gavin?!"

"Whoa, there," Gavin said, walking nonchalantly in the room and holding out a hand as if to say, _calm down._ "You've been working for quite a long time, so the guys just want to know if you want to take a break or somethin'."  
Michael's face blushed red when he saw that Gav was wearing a particularly tight shirt today. He briskly turned towards the computer again, determined not to look at him. "No, I don't."

Gavin stepped a bit closer. "Are you sure? D'you want me to edit this time around for you?"

_Fuck. Stop. Please._

"No, Gavin."

Gavin stepped even fucking closer, and rested two fingers on the desk next to Michael. "You've been acting weird. Are you angry with me?"

_You smell so damn amazing._

"No, Gavin!"

"You sound angry. What've I done? Is it because I lost that one Let's Play for us?"

_"Just leave me alone and fuck off!"_ Michael nearly yelled. Gavin quickly took a step back. Neither of them said anything, frozen in time. Michael's heart beat so fast he worried he was going to go into cardiac arrest. Gavin bit his lip, though Michael couldn't see it.

Gavin's voice was shaky when he spoke again. "I'll, uh…I'll leave you, then."

Michael didn't respond. He stared at the screen, which was now blurring before his eyes, not understanding the words or letters anymore. He heard the sound of Gavin taking a step. Then, suddenly, a lot of steps, running down the hall, and a door squeaking slowly closed.

Michael leaned back and covered his face with his hands, sighing deeply. There'd been, before, only one word that was constantly running through his mind: the name of the person he'd just yelled at. The name of possibly one of the most amazing people he even knew. But now, three words had replaced it. Three gnarled, ugly words that made him want to throw himself off a cliff, possibly more than the first word ever had. Three words that ruined everything.

_I fucked up._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It took Michael five hours to finish what would have normally been a two-hour job. By the end he was practically slamming his head on his own desk, for obvious reasons, but he was done, finally, and that was what mattered in the end. And the editing didn't even turn out half-bad.

Everyone in the office already knew Michael was in the pissiest mood he'd been in for a long time. He could tell by the whispers outside of the door and by the fact that everyone who came into the room didn't say anything to him. As if he needed another reason to hate himself. This time he let himself think freely about Gavin. He wondered where he was. He wondered if he'd ever forgive him. But mostly, he wondered how he could possibly have fucked up a years-long relationship in a matter of minutes.

_I can't believe I like Gavin._

He hadn't seen Gavin in four hours, and the thought that his feelings might have been hurt was absolutely murdering him inside. After all, Michael had never actually been mad at Gavin. He was mad at himself for…liking Gavin? Avoiding Gavin when he could have spent time with him? Acting like an absolute dick? He wasn't exactly sure why he was pissed off with himself, but he was. Gavin had never done anything. All he did was be lovely, and British, and happy, and wonderful, _and so fucking wonderful_. And Michael had told him to fuck off, like the little piece of shit he was.

Michael tortured himself with watching the 30-minute video again, looking to see if there were any mistakes in the editing. But it was only torture because of how much Gavin talked and laughed in it, before Michael had pulled his dick move.

The door creaked slowly open. Michael's heart thudded in his chest, and his immediate thought was, _It's Gavin. Oh, god, it's Gavin. Gavin, I'm so fucking sorry._

But it wasn't Gavin. It was Ray.

Ray peered into the room. He was holding a beer in one of his hands. "You busy?" he asked in his deep, soothing voice. Michael shook his head and took off his headphones. Somehow, Michael was glad it wasn't Gavin. Ray was always the voice of reason around the office, besides Geoff. If anyone could get Michael to calm the fuck down, it was Ray.

"Listen, man," Ray began, "I know you've been having kind of a rough day. You wanna go outside where it's not cold as dicks and have a beer?"

Michael felt better instantly at the offer. He felt obligated, however, to refuse. "Sorry dude, I've got kind of a lot to do with this video—"

Ray held out the beer enticingly. "C'mon, Michael, it's only like four in the afternoon."

Michael finally agreed. Some alcohol in his system might serve him well. "All right, man."

Ray and Michael walked down the hall together. Everyone in the office was averting their eyes, which made Michael feel a little worse about having been an indescribable asshole to his best friend. He wondered again where Gavin could possibly be; he hadn't seen him since he told him to fuck off. Not that anyone could blame him.

They exited the building, accepting a little, unsure smile from Kara at the front desk. Ray walked around to the side of the building, and Michael followed, drinking in the Texas heat after being cooped up in the nearly-frigid office.

Michael stood next to Ray beside the Rooster Teeth building, waiting for him to finally hand him his beer, down whose side little droplets of condensation were running. Ray leaned down and put the beer on the curb. Before Michael could ask why he'd done so, Ray punched Michael in the face as hard as he could.

* * *

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?" Ray asked in a hard voice that managed to be as calm as it was terrifying.

Michael was sent reeling from the blow. One hand flew to his face, while the other threw itself outward to keep his balance. What were once organized thoughts broke up into a jumbled mess. The punch had been so unexpected that it knocked the wind out of him. For a moment, he struggled to breathe, the world spinning. Then, immediately:

"What – _the fuck_ – Ray?!"

"Can you please fucking explain to me why you told Gavin to 'fuck off'?"

Michael felt his face flush red. "I was – I was just—"

Ray held up a hand, which silenced him. Michael had never seen Ray look so mad in his whole life. His voice was still unbearably calm, which was somehow the most threatening thing Michael could imagine. "Listen, asshole," he said. Michael immediately shut his mouth. "I can tell when you're raging, and I can tell when you're _mad_. And don't you fucking _dare_ tell me I don't know the goddamn difference between the two." Ray pointed out in no particular direction. "Gavin just ran out of the goddamn office and told me you were being a douche."

"I was just—" Michael tried again, but Ray's mere facial expression shut him the hell up.

"You two might be Michael and Gavin, but we're X-Ray and Vav. If someone's being a douche to him, I'll fuckin' punch his dick in. Even if it's you. So can you explain why you insulted Gavin, and give me a goddamn reason to spare your life?"

"All right!" Michael exclaimed, dozens of emotions hitting him all at once. "I'll…I'll tell you, Ray."

Ray waited patiently, but sternly.

Michael took several deep breaths. He realized fully that there was no way he was going to be able to lie to Ray, or tell him that he was "just under some stress." If there was one thing Ray was good at, it was calling bullshit. And punching. Ow. Damn.

Michael took one last long breath of heterosexuality, and, through his teeth, muttered something along the lines of "Hi ha' heel's 'or ha-hihn."

"What'd you call my mother?" Ray joked.

"Damn it, I'm trying to tell you!" Michael grumbled, irritated. He gritted his teeth and insinuated more unintelligible nonsense.

"Spit it out, I haven't got all day," Ray said, beginning to get annoyed.

Why was it so hard to tell him? Oh, yeah, homophobia exists. How fucking silly of him to forget that. "Fine. Here we go. Here we go."

Ray waited with what can only be described as a facial expression between amusement and confusion.

Michael spat it out. "I – I have…I have feelings for Gavin."

Ray said nothing. His dark eyes widened slowly, and his mouth fell open slightly as what Michael had said processed in his brain. He stared at Michael for what must've been about twenty seconds. Michael bit the inside of his cheek, imagining knives digging into his abdomen and fucking Commander Shepard gunning him down. How could he tell Ray something like this? How could he be such a gigantic idiot and lose two friends in one day? Will some video game character, _any one_, please kill him off right now so Ray might have something else to tell the guys?

Ray stayed silent for a very long time. Slowly, he leaned down and picked up Michael's beer, avoiding eye contact with him. Michael flinched, expecting the worst, but Ray merely handed him the can. Michael tentatively took it. It was so cold, it burned.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Ray said, "Yeah, that'd be cute."

"Listen, Ray, I – what?"

"Do you two need lube? Just ask, I have plenty."

"You – I – lub—_what_?"

"It was a joke, calm down."

"You're not – I mean, you aren't—?"

"A homophobe? Hell, no."

"Homo—you – _what_?"

"So you like Gavin, huh?"

"_Wha_—I – yeah, I…I think I do. A lot."

Ray's face softened, and he finally,_ finally_ smiled. "I fuckin' knew it."

Michael smiled too, even though his face still hurt. "Heh." He opened the hissing can of beer and took a long swig.

Ray put an arm around Michael as they began their walk back around the building.

"You still deserved to be punched, though."

"Yeah, Ray, I know."

* * *

Everyone was in the break room, including Gavin, who was looking down at his hands, clasped tightly together. Michael felt as if he couldn't breathe, even walking in with Ray, who had quite literally knocked some sense into him. Gavin looked up at Michael with a blank expression when he entered. Everyone else looked up, too. Ryan, Jack, Geoff, Gus, Burnie Burns, Lindsay, Barb…_everyone_ knew what was about to happen.

"Vavvy Wavvy," called out Ray in a singsong voice that made Gavin crack a smile. He continued in a comical, but endearing, British accent. "Your little Mi-cool has something to tell you."

Gavin stood up. Ray's arm had been around Michael, but now Ray let him go and pushed him closer to Gavin. Everyone watched Michael with a powerful intenseness, but Michael barely noticed them. It was Gavin he was looking at. His spiky, sandy brown hair, the stubble that was about to grow on his face, his pink lips, his greenish-blue eyes that glistened in a room of darkness and jackassery and panic attacks.

"Uh, listen, man," Michael began. Gavin waited patiently, his face neutral; neither smiling nor frowning. "I was the biggest dick in the world. And I understand if you never want to talk to me again. But I hope that's not the case, 'cause…you're my boi."

Gavin cracked a slight smile. There were some audible "awwws" from everyone in the room. Ray leaned his head back against a wall and smiled happily. But Michael was only focusing on Gavin's face. He almost didn't notice his face getting warmer.

Almost.

"I'm sorry, Gavvers," Michael continued. "I hope you can forgive me."

Gavin's slight smile turned into a full-on grin. Michael was barely prepared for it, but Gavin immediately threw his arms around him and buried his face in Michael's shoulder. Michael could hear his heart beating faster and faster in his ears as he carefully rested his arms on Gavin's back.

Gavin pulled his head up and rested his chin on Michael's shoulder, all the while not noticing how Michael could barely breathe. He whispered merrily into Michael's ear:

"It's okay, Michael. You're my boi."

* * *

Author's Note:

C'mon, guys, Gavin was never gonna stay mad at his little Mikey Wikey :) [I also like Ray punching people in the face for obvious reasons]

Leave a comment if you like it, if you love it, or if you just want to say hi. Alternatively, you can scream "Rooster Teeth," "Achievement Hunter," or "Geoff Ramsey" into the night. I'll be listening. Thanks, everyone, for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Ray was cooler about the whole, "your best friend has a major crush on your other best friend" thing than Michael thought he'd be. In fact, Ray acted so normally that Michael eventually started wondering if he'd even told Ray about it at all. A sharp pain in his face assured him he had.

After a few days, it had bruised up, but luckily no one asked where Michael had gotten it. It appeared as if Ray had told everyone he was going to clock the shit out of Michael for yelling at Gavin. No one seemed angry with Michael anymore, least of all Gavin. The next day, Gavin was so cheerful and happy it was like the whole thing had never happened, a fact for which Michael was immeasurably grateful.

In fact, sometimes, Gavin seemed…_too_ cheerful and happy.

_Don't be an idiot, Michael. You're only thinking this because you have a crush on him. That's it._

_ But the way he smiled at me this morning—_

_ Stop._

_ And yesterday, when he winked—_

_ Nope. Lalala, can't hear you._

_ Or when he was watching my hands a lot during the Let's Play._

_ He doesn't like me and never will, so just shut the fuck up already!_

Glad as he was that Gavin wasn't mad at him anymore, and even gladder now that he'd stopped his awful behavior towards everyone, especially Gavvy Wa – Gavin, Michael didn't feel okay. He seemed to be suffering internally, especially during Let's Plays when Gavin would flirt with him with reckless abandon. Was he just doing it for the fans, or…? No. Gavin wasn't gay, and he certainly wasn't into his best friend of years, Michael "Rage Quit" Jones.

…Was he?

Michael decided that Ray would be the best person to consult. But he quickly realized that it was a bust.

"Sorry dude, I have no idea if he likes dick," Ray said, putting his feet up on the couch across from Michael's, looking extremely comfortable in this extremely _not_-comfortable conversation. Michael, Ray, and Kara were the only ones in the office anymore.

"Are you serious? Are you fucking shitting me?"

"Swear."

"Well, damn." Michael leaned back on the couch. "I could've sworn…"

"What?" Ray asked, his eyes tired. It was pretty late into the night, after all.

"Gavin's just…acting weird around me. He has been for a couple weeks. He's saying all this suggestive shit, and looking at me and doing that – that – that _thing_ with his mouth. You know, that _thing_?"

Ray nodded. "I know the thing."

Michael ran a hand through his bouncing curls. "He's…driving me crazy or something. It's like he likes me, but then of course, he doesn't."

Ray took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. "Maybe it's just you, man. Remember on _Friends_, when Joey had that enormous crush on Rachel, and he thought he was in love with her?"

"I don't know what you're saying," droned Michael, realizing his own exhaustion from being in the office all day. "What the hell are you referencing?"

"_Friends_, dumbass," answered Ray with a little less zeal than usual. "Joey had a crush on Rachel and he thought he was in love with her, so Phoebs tells him it's just his emotions going crazy. Maybe you just have a lot of emotions – well, fuck. You have the most emotions of any human being I know."

"Shut the fuck up!"

"Anyway, I'm just saying – maybe you just think Gav likes you because of all your bottled up love or hate or whatever it is. Maybe you don't even like him at all, and the feelings will go away."

Michael considered Ray's words all night, except when he lay in bed and all he could think about was Gavin.

But upon his return to work the next day, and the fact that seeing Gavin there already drinking a coffee delighted him out of his fucking _mind_, he realized he probably wasn't imagining his own feelings. Or his fluttering heart. Goddamn. Michael Jones from New Jersey. Heart fluttering. Something was horribly wrong with the world. And it was British.

One evening, after recording for the day, Michael sat in the break room with some of the guys and the ladies, watching South Park, when Gavin blundered in and – shitting you not – asks Barbara to move over so he could sit next to Michael.

Michael was inwardly having a heart attack, but no one seemed to notice. Lindsay smiled as she looked at Michael and Gavin. "I'm so glad you two are friends again."

"Me too," Gavin said, smiling at Michael. There was a simultaneous "aww" from everyone in the room.

Michael _didn't_ say anything, because he _couldn't_ say anything, because if he tried he worried that all that would come out were unintelligible squeals.

Later on, after a marathon of television watching and Michael all the while resisting the urge to rest his hand on Gavin's thigh, everyone decided to disperse and go home. The videos had been uploaded already and the fans were happy, and that was the only thing that mattered in the end.

As everyone got up, Michael decided to check one last time if everything was okay. He stood up and tapped Gavin's shoulder.

"So, uh…you're sure we're all right, man?"

Gavin smiled a brilliant, gleaming smile. "Of course, Michael."

Ray awkwardly stepped into the conversation. "So…you two should hug it out."

Michael felt himself blush a deep shade of red as Gavin stepped forward and tenderly hugged him. Michael rested his chin on Gavin's shoulder, and saw Ray wink sneakily as he pranced out of the room.

_You bastard_, Michael thought absently, but was too absorbed in the way Gavin's cologne made his brain woozy to think up any worse words.

And then, Michael felt Gavin's hand on his lower back. Underneath his shirt.

Blood thudded in his ears and his heart raced. Gavin pulled away from what must have been a three-second hug and walked out of the room, all the while smiling at Michael and saying, "See you tomorrow, Michael!" in his dumb fucking accent.

Michael was stunned speechless. Had it just been an accident? Did Gavin really just—? I mean, did he—?!

Michael's skin tingled on his lower back where Gavin's hand had been. Maybe his shirt had been up the whole time, and Gav just happened to put his hand – there. What Michael did next qualified as "stumbling" out of the office and towards his car.

_My shirt was probably like that beforehand._

_ Oh my god, Gavin just felt me up._

_ He did not. It was just an accident. He pulled away pretty fast._

_ His hand touched my lower back. I'm having trouble breathing right now._

Michael realized too late that he was driving himself crazy with these thoughts about Gavin – again.

_Shut up. There's no way he likes me like that._

_ But…_

_ What if…_

_ He does?_

* * *

The next day was Saturday. No work. So, by extension, no Gavin Free action.

Michael paced around his apartment with his cell in his hand, wondering whether he should call Gavin and invite him over, or not. He decided he wouldn't. It was just too weird, with the way Gavin had been acting and the fact that Michael couldn't stop thinking about what his chest felt like, or running his hand through his hair, or maybe biting his ear a little – and – _fuck_.

He was just about to disgustedly throw his phone on his couch when suddenly, it rang. His heart jumped into his throat, but it was a false alarm.

**Incoming call:**

**Master Chief**

Michael quickly accepted the call. "Hey, what's up, Geoff?"

"Michael, listen man. Today Griffon and I are taking Millie to the zoo, so we need you to take care of Gavin for us."

"You _what_?"

"He came down with something today, and it's pretty bad. I think it's just a cold, but he's sneezing a lot and he can't really be with us all day at the zoo today. He really needs someone to take care of him. Can you do it?"

"You – he – uh, sure, Geoff, of course, but—"

"Thanks, Michael. I'm driving him over to your place, all right?"

"You're_ what_?"

"See you in a bit."

Geoff hung up. Michael looked around his apartment, and softly, tenderly whispered the first word that came to mind:

"_Fuck_."

* * *

Author's Note:

What's Michael gotten himself into guys.

I just love writing for these two babies. If you like this fic, why don't you go ahead and tell your grandma all about it? No? Okay, well then, you can tell me what you like about it in the reviews. That also works too. I'll be updating every couple days for you guys, which I guess is kind of a sweet deal for you. Thanks so much for reading, everyone


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Michael, panicking, ran around his apartment for what must have been the tenth time, grabbing empty beer cans and empty chip bags and hurriedly throwing them away. He wasn't a particularly messy person; all things considered, he was actually pretty organized. But with the Gavin situation that had been going on, he had more than once decided to drown his worries in beer. Well, all the beer was gone and the worries weren't. He wondered if this was a life lesson. Oh, well. He'd figure it out when his apartment wasn't a complete and utter fucking disgrace.

He checked the place one last time, even going so far as to fluff up the pillows and cushions on the couch, and lowering the volume of the television to a quiet, peaceful drone in the distance.

_Maybe I should put on some romantic music, light up the fireplace I don't have_, he joked with himself. For whatever reason, he was extremely nervous for Gavin to come over. He tried to remind himself that Gavin had been over a million times before.

_Yeah, but that was before I started noticing his sweet ass_.

All too soon, there was a knock at the door. Michael waited a while before answering it, to make it look like he had something better to do than wait around for a sickly Gavin to come knocking at his door.

Geoff and Gavin stood in the doorway. Geoff was the absolute picture of health; smiling, eyebrows raised. Gavin, on the other hand, looked awful. He had a small blanket with pink heart designs draped over his head. There were bags under his tired eyes, and the tip of his nose was red, probably from sneezing. In the hand that wasn't keeping the blanket securely around his head, he held a box of tissues.

"H-hey, guys," Michael said.

"Hi, Michael!" Gavin greeted, forcing a smile. His voice cracked.

"God damn. What's wrong with him, Geoff?"

Geoff waved a hand, as if dismissing Michael's words. "He'll be fine. Listen, Michael, I want to thank you for doin' this. We didn't want to leave him all alone, and Ray said you might be free today."

_Ray, you sneaky son of a bitch_.

"No problem, man. Come on in, Gavin."

"Thanks, Michael. We'll call you when we come home from the zoo, all right?" Geoff gingerly nudged Gavin into Michael's apartment.

"See ya, Geoff." Michael closed the door, his heart pounding.

Gavin hobbled over and sat down on the couch, then turned and smiled at Michael, who returned a half-assed frown. "So you really have nothing better to do than to take care of me?"

"Well, you know," Michael shrugged one shoulder. "_Someone_ has to take care of your stupid ass, since apparently Ray can't."

Gavin tried to laugh, but it turned into a hacking cough and eventually, a sneeze.

"You don't look so good, man," Michael said, going for the medicine cabinet in his kitchen. "Have you had any meds yet?"

"No, it's only ten," replied Gavin, rubbing his temples.

Michael rummaged in the cabinet until he found the right one. He poured the safe amount of the sticky liquid into the little cup, made a cup of coffee for Gavin (_creamer, two spoonfuls of sugar_), and brought them both to him.

Gavin looked at the medicine cup and pouted.

Michael sighed. He knew where this was going. "You have to."

"No."

"You _have_ to."

"No!" Gavin crossed his arms and turned away from Michael.

_God damn it_. "Gavin, take your medicine."

"I don't want to."

"How do you expect to get better?"

"I'll just…stay sick forever."

"The hell you will!"

Gavin looked sadly at the microscopic medicine cup again. "It's so gross, Michael. It's not even cherry-flavored. It's death-flavored."

"You're acting like a little bitch. Take your fucking medicine."

"You can't make me."

It was hard to focus on how intoxicatingly good-looking Gavin was when he was being such a little prick. "I'm from Jersey. Do you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?"

Gavin pulled his knees to his chest and frowned, not answering. Clearly, the vicious Jersey approach wasn't gonna work on Gavin.

Michael sat down on the couch and quickly counted to ten to calm himself down. In a much softer voice, he said, "Do it for Lindsay?"

No response.

"Burnie? Gus?"

No response.

"Uh, Barb? Griffon."

Gavin knotted his brows.

Michael felt his face turn an embarrassing shade of red. "Do it...for me? Just take your fucking medicine, you pussy!"

Gavin sighed and let his legs slide back down off the couch. He tentatively took the tiny medicine cup, examining the red, syrupy substance inside. He looked at Michael miserably and raised the cup. "Cheers." Michael raised Gavin's coffee cup encouragingly. Throwing his head back, Gavin finally fucking drank his medicine. Michael sighed and leaned back on the couch as Gavin grabbed for his coffee cup and took a swig.

When Gavin finished washing the taste of medicine out of his mouth, he coughed and said miserably, "I never want to do that again."

Michael refrained from telling Gavin that he'd have to take another one in four hours. For now, they sat together and watched television.

An hour passed. Gavin, entranced by the television, was coughing and sneezing significantly less than when he'd arrived at Michael's apartment. Michael, however, was still struggling with his _own_ problem: trying hard not to rest a hand on Gavin's leg, or put his arm around Gavin, or look at Gavin, or make it seem like he was interested in anything else besides _Regular Show_.

Eventually Michael's phone gave off a text alert tone. He checked it gratefully.

* * *

**New Message:**

**Master Chief**

**Master Chief:**

You idiots doing all right?

* * *

Michael smiled as he glanced at Gavin, who was so absorbed in the episode that his mouth was slightly open, but Michael quickly looked away when Gavin started licking his lips.

* * *

**Me:**

Can I babysit Millie instead?

It'd be easier than taking care of Gavin.

**Master Chief:**

Haha. Sucker. Be home soon. Wuv you.

* * *

With Gavin so distracted, Michael decided to get up and go to the kitchen. Within fifteen minutes, he came back out with a bowl of soup for Gavin – he made sure not to put any bread in it.

Gavin gasped when he saw the bowl, as if he was surprised Michael would do…actually, it _was_ kind of surprising, even to Michael himself.

"Here, dipshit," Michael said, handing his the bowl and a spoon.

"Michael!" Gavin exclaimed, his face lighting up. He gratefully took the spoon and started eating the soup, carefully blowing on each spoonful. _Fuck_.

"Yeah, well," stammered Michael, "don't spill anything or you'll have to clean it up."

"I won't," Gavin promised.

Somehow, Michael made it through another two and a half hours. It was torture; Michael was constantly fighting a near-unbearable urge to put his arm around Gavin as they watched _Jaws _(Michael had put on the movie in hopes of distracting himself from Gavin's attractive stubble-strewn face, but to no avail). In the underwater scene, the only real jumpscare in the movie, Gavin was practically covering his face in fear.

"I hate this part," he complained.

"Gavin. You've seen this movie a million times! How can this still scare you?"

"It's grotesque!" argued Gavin. _Seriously, dude, 'grotesque?' Fuck you and fuck your vocabulary. Stop making me look like an uncultured shit._

"Just turn away and I'll let you know when it's over," Michael said, with a little less anger than what would have been usual for him. "There. Dead guy's not onscreen anymore."

Gavin sighed with relief, but his issues with Steven Spielberg's smash hit were far from over. At the end of the movie, a single tear streamed down his face.

"What the fuck?" Michael exclaimed almost immediately. "Why are you crying? Everything turns out all right!"

"Sorry," Gavin apologized, wiping at his face. "I always get sad when the fisherman guy gets eaten."

Michael sighed, then checked his phone and stood up to go get Gavin's medicine again. This time, Gavin took the medicine almost right away. Michael was impressed.

"I did it for the Queen," Gavin said immediately when Michael raised an eyebrow at him. "And also for you, 'cause you're my boi."

Michael willed his face not to turn red, but it didn't work. "Whatever," he said, then sat back down next to Gavin. His phone gave off the text alert tone again, almost immediately.

* * *

**New Message:**

**Ray**

**Ray:**

Use a condom.

**Me:**

Fuck you.

**Ray:**

That's Gavin's job. You're welcome.

* * *

Michael must have been blushing quite profusely, because Gavin was looking at him. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Who texted you?"

"Ray. Just wonderin' how you are."

"Oh, that's nice. Tell him I say hello."

"Will do."

* * *

**Me:**

Gavin says "get bent"

* * *

Ray didn't respond. Michael assumed it was because he was laughing too hard.

Gavin found something else to watch eventually; some British show that Michael could barely grasp. But just as soon as Michael was getting comfortable and resisting the omnipresent urge to touch Gavin's shoulder or face or his fucking _collarbones_, it happened.

Gavin pulled some vapor rub out of his pocket, and turned to Michael. "Will you rub this on my chest, please?"

Michael almost jumped three feet in the air. "Will I _what_?!"

Gavin didn't seem to have any bad intentions; he probably just needed someone to rub some fucking vapor rub on his chest. He wasn't even smiling sheepishly, or laughing.

"Come on, Michael, please? I'm sick."

"D-do it yourself, man! You can't just ask me to rub vapor rub on you!"

"Michael, it's okay. I really need your help and—"

Michael stood straight up, his face a deep crimson. "_No way_."

Gavin held his arms out disbelievingly. "What, you're gonna make me do it myself?"

"Sorry, dude," Michael said, turning around quickly and heading towards the kitchen to get a beer. His pulse was already far too elevated for this kind of shit.

Gavin begrudgingly opened the container, scooped out some vapor rub, and as angrily as he could manage, put his hand up his shirt and applied the vapor rub himself. Michael felt bad, of course. Firstly, he had missed a chance to rub Gavin's chest. But Gavin _was_ also really sick, and he was right – when you felt bad, possibly the only comfort you had was to have someone rub nice-smelling medicine on your chest.

After Gavin finished, he apologetically offered to play some video games with him. Gavin happily agreed, seeming to have already forgotten what happened.

They played video games for hours upon hours. Michael loved playing video games with Gavin, but especially when they weren't recording. He still tended to get angry, but a happy angry, if that made any sense. Gavin always had fun playing video games, but he liked it when they weren't recording, too. They usually laughed so hard when they were playing video games together that they couldn't even breathe, and finding footage in which they weren't gasping for air was difficult.

Finally, they reached a point where they were both yawning, and decided to watch another movie, but about a quarter of the way through, they could barely keep their eyes open. At one point, Gavin stretched out on the entirety of the couch, while Michael sat down on the floor to give him some room and rested his head back on Gavin's feet.

Gavin looked really cute curled up like that. Michael closed his eyes slowly.

After a while, Gavin murmured softly, "Michael?"

"Mmm?"

"Thanks."

Michael opened his eyes and looked over at Gavin, but his eyes were closed. He rested his head back and closed his eyes.

"You're welcome, Gavvy."

Michael later received a text from Geoff.

* * *

**Master Chief:**

On our way up. Thx for this

* * *

Michael's eyes closed again and he smiled.

* * *

_Okay, don't be a pussy. Just do it. Just pick up the phone and do it._

Michael was once again pacing his apartment with nothing but beer on his breath and Gavin on his mind.

_What if he—_

_ He won't. Just do it, c'mon._

_ But what if—_

_ I am Michael Vincent Fucking "Rage Quit" Jones and I am not intimidated by some British idiot, so just pick up the phone and fucking ask him out!_

Michael dialed Gavin's number. His heart thudded in his chest. He tried to remember that he was just asking Gavin to come hang out or something, but it felt much more important.

Gavin picked up after what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality a few short rings.

"Hi, Michael!" he said cheerfully.

"Uh, h-hey Gavin," Michael stammered. "You feeling better?"

"Oh, yeah. Your soup probably did the trick. Thanks again for taking care of me."

Michael wrung his hand. He wondered if he'd ever be able to be near Gavin again without his heart pounding away. "Uh, n-no problem. Listen, if you're not busy today, do you want to…hang out, later?"

It took Gavin a second or two to answer, as if he was contemplating something. Then, his soft, British, seductive voice breathed his answer: "Uh, that'd be top, but I can't today."

* * *

Author's Note:

Poor Michael. Gavin must be doing something preeeeetty important to skip out on his little Mi-cool :)

Anyways, thank you guys so much for reading! As always, leave your comments in the reviews. I love to hear what you think!

**Also, a little PSA:** It was recently brought to my attention that Ray doesn't actually drink alcohol! Firstly, good for him, and secondly, I'll be changing the third chapter up a little bit to exclude Ray's drinking in the scene. It'll still be basically the same: no rereads needed! I always try to make this as realistic as possible, so I don't mind you guys telling me at all if something is wrong. In fact, I love it when you do! So if you have any problems with it, **do not hesitate **to let me know. Thank you to the user who told me, and thanks for your wonderful comments!

Thanks so much for reading, and enjoy your morning/day/evening!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Gavin hung up on Michael, feeling awful about himself. He hadn't wanted to skip out on Michael, and he hated – _hated_ – to hear him sound so crestfallen. But it wouldn't all be for nothing. He just hoped Michael wouldn't find out before he got a chance to show him.

Gavin had told Geoff and Griffon he was going out for the day. He rushed out of the house, waving his goodbyes, and walked out into the city, beginning his day-long journey into Austin.

* * *

_Michael Jones, you fucking idiot._

Michael stood in his living room, still clutching his phone in one hand, not believing that he had worked up the balls to invite Gavin over, and then was _rejected_. He tried to think of a reason Gavin would skip out on him like that. Was it something he'd said? Something he'd done? Was it because he didn't apply the fucking vapor rub to Gavin's chest? Could Gavin be mad about something?

Gavin had never skipped out on him before, amazingly. If Gavin was hanging out with someone else, he usually would tell Michael right away and invite him over. Gavin always seemed to have time for Michael, and now all of a sudden he was _busy_?

_Get a motherfucking hold of yourself! Gavin has other friends besides you, you privileged shit!_

If Gavin really was hanging out with the guys somewhere…why didn't he want Michael to be there? What was going on?

Michael tried to remember what Gavin had said before he hung up.

"That'd be top, but I can't today," Gavin had said.

"What? Why not?"

"I'm, uh, busy."

"O-oh."

Gavin had never simply said he was "busy" before. He always told Michael exactly what he was doing, or who he was hanging out with. But that was before Michael – did he sense that Michael had feelings for him? Had Michael stood just a little too close to him, looked at him a bit too longingly? And what was so important or personal that would make Gavin want to keep Michael from knowing?

Hard as he tried, Michael Fucking "Rage Quit" Jones from New Jersey couldn't drive away the sudden sadness that overcame him.

* * *

Gavin leaned closer to the cashier, giving him a suspicious look. "Are you _sure_ you don't have it?"

The guy shook his head, his eyes full of pity. "Sorry, dude, not this time. Maybe you can order it online? Someone's gotta have it."

Gavin sighed and rested back on the balls of his feet. "I don't have the time. Thanks again, though."

Gavin walked out of the third store that day. He was beginning to doubt he'd ever find what he was looking for, and he most certainly did not have a few days to figure it out. His time was running out faster than he thought. He inwardly kicked himself for not going out sooner to try and find it.

Gavin checked his watch. It was 3:15. There were five more places where he could find one. He gritted his teeth, put on his best game face, and began the long walk to the store.

* * *

"Sorry, man, I'm busy," Ray said over the phone.

"Are you shitting me?" Michael demanded. "Why is everyone saying that to me?"

"No Gav today, huh?"

Michael sighed. "Sorry. It's just that…he's never skipped out me before. I just feel like he's hiding something from me."

"You've never sounded gayer."

"Shut the hell up!"

Ray chuckled. "Listen, man. Do you think Gavin likes you? Because I think he likes you."

"I don't know, I mean…you do?"

"Hell, yeah."

"Well." Michael tried to search for words. He felt an oncoming wave of giddiness. "That's good news, I guess."

"_So_, maybe he's just busy," Ray said calmly. "Now stop acting like a teenage girl and go find something to do today."

"Fine. Wait, what are _you_ doing today?"

"Unless you want to come chill out with my parents, I doubt you want to hang with me."

"Whatever, bye!" Michael grumbled angrily.

"_I love you_," Ray whispered into the receiver, then hung up abruptly. What an asshole.

Finding something to do sounded a lot easier than it actually was. Groaning, Michael hung up the phone and looked around his apartment. He wished that Gavin were here, to hang out with him or make him laugh or play video games with him. What was he supposed to do all by himself, just fucking wait for Gavin to call him back, saying "_I was kidding, Mi-cool! I love you! I'm heading over to your apartment so we can eat pizza and bone together_!"

He came to the sudden realization that it was going to be a very, _very_ long day.

* * *

Gavin ate dinner in the mall, still having had no luck. He couldn't believe it: not _one_ store he'd gone to had it. And Gavin needed one like air.

It was 8:00 at night and the mall was closing. Gavin glumly walked out of the mall and set off for the last place he thought would have one. The sun was officially behind the horizon, and there was a dark stillness about the area that made Gavin more than a little bit uneasy. The streetlamps provided light, but they illuminated the streets so eerily that Gavin almost wished they weren't there. Gavin wished he had someone walking with him, a big guy like Jack, or the ever-intimidating vicious teddy bear of a man Ryan, or Geoff, or…or Michael. He wished Michael was with him most of all. He zipped up his sweatshirt.

Gavin didn't even know if the place was open. It was already 8:10. But Gavin had set out to find what he needed, and _in the Queen's name_ he would get it.

The last store was, unfortunately, in a fairly sketchy part of town. Gavin almost never went there – they'd only been to the store Gavin was looking for just once, and they decided it wasn't really that great of a place to find something. But it was Gavin's last hope. He drew in a long, shaky breath, wondering for the millionth time if he should just go home, to Geoff and Griffon and Millie.

Finally, Gavin found the store. Gavin was fairly relieved: the night had gone from dark and creepy to inky black and downright scary, and he was desperate to go somewhere safe, as soon as he found what he was looking for. He regretted not having a tough guy like Michael with him, too. Michael could protect him from anything.

The store was closed.

Gavin uttered a curse under his breath, a particularly foul one he'd learnt from Michael. He peeked through the window, trying to see if they had what he was looking for – and they did. Sitting on the shelf was the thing Gavin had been searching for for the better part of the day, and it looked to be in fairly good condition – Michael's birthday present.

Gavin looked up at the rising moon. _I need to go home_, he thought. It occurred to him that he was actually closer to Michael's apartment than anyone else's. Could he ask him for a ride home? Gavin didn't see why not.

A sound behind him made him whirl around. In an alley, he saw a bit of movement, but it was gone before he could see what it was. His heart thudding, he whipped out his phone and dialed Michael's number, walking just a little faster than he had been before.

* * *

Michael was bored out of his mind. He was lying down on the couch, eating ice cream while watching something on television – the British show Gavin had been watching before – because he wanted to make sense of what had been happening before in the episode, or maybe talk about it a little with Gavin. But the show made no sense. Something about a doctor, and a box? Michael couldn't really figure it out.

_Brits_, he thought, taking another spoonful of chocolate ice cream.

Suddenly, his phone went off. He checked it, hoping it was—

* * *

**Incoming Call:**

**Gavin Free**

* * *

_It was_. Holy shit, it was actually Gavin. Why was he calling now? Did he suddenly decide he wanted to hang out with Michael after all? Should Michael wait until he called a second time, so Gavin knew he had a life?

It was tempting, but Michael's curiosity got the best of him. He let it ring about four times, then picked up the phone, answering with a nonchalant "Hello?"

"Michael?" Gavin said immediately. It sounded like he was whispering.

"Hey, Gavin. What's up?"

"I – I need you to pick me up, Michael," Gavin responded. His voice was shaky, and he sounded alarmed. He was still whispering, but he was speaking rather fast.

Michael set the bowl of ice cream aside and sat up, muting the television as he answered. "Gavin? What's wrong? Where are you?"

Gavin was breathing heavily. He sounded as if he was on the verge of having a panic attack. "I'm by the ice cream place closest to your house, Michael." In an even quieter voice, he whispered into the phone, his voice full of fear: "_There are some guys following me_."

Michael's hand trembled as he reached for his shoes. "Wh-what? Following you? How many?"

"Two. Michael, please come get me. I don't know what to do." Gavin sounded like he was about to cry. Michael _felt_ like he was about to cry.

"All right, all right, I'll come get you, just don't hang up, okay? Don't hang up."

A breathy "okay" answered him. Michael held the phone to his ear as he searched destructively for his car keys. Finally finding them, he practically ran out the door.

"Michael?" Gavin breathed into the receiver.

"I'm in my car," Michael lied, running into the elevator and pressing the button for the lobby hurriedly. "I'm coming to get you. What's happening?"

"They're getting closer," Gavin whimpered. Michael bit the inside of his cheek, feeling his heart race. He had never heard Gavin sound so terrified. Fuck it, he'd never _been_ so terrified. His palms sweated. The elevator doors seemed to close slower than ever.

"Focus, focus. Do they have a weapon with them?"

"N-no. I don't know."

Michael tried to run a hand through his hair but ended up grabbing hold of it and pulling on it till it hurt. His teeth grinded against each other, and all he could hear in his head was his heart pounding as hard as it ever had. "Try turning a corner. Where are you now?"

"I'm…I'm by the Arby's. Hurry up, Michael, hurry, _hurry_."

The elevator doors finally opened and Michael bolted out, taking off running into the lobby. He bit his lip so hard it bled, but he didn't care. He could feel a worse pain in his chest: his heart, shattering. He reached the parking lot and finally his car, fumbling with the keys while also keeping his phone against his ear with his shoulder. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Don't hang up, don—don't hang up, Gavin."

"I'm scared."

"I know, Gavin, I know, it's okay. Don't hang up." Michael closed the car door, turned the car on, and sped out of the parking lot as fast as lightning. Luckily, he knew exactly where the Arby's was. Unluckily, it was a five-minute drive. The worst five minutes of his life.

"Michael," Gavin said softly into the receiver. His voice was shaky, scared, but he seemed to say Michael's name with a different kind of calm. "Michael, I'm sorry."

Michael's lip trembled hard as he put the phone on speaker and set it down next to him, stepping hard on the gas. "Shut the f-fuck up."

Gavin's voice wavered. "I'm sorry for skipping out on you, Michael. I wish you were here. _Please, hurry_."

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm almost there! Keep walking. Are they following you? Where are you?"

"I'm by the electronics store, Michael, I'm—" Gavin cut off. Michael heard a commotion on the other end, and Gavin let out a small yelp.

Michael felt a full-on panic attack coming on. He slammed the gas. "What happened?! Gavin?! _Gavin_?!"

"Hang up the phone," Michael heard a faint, gruff voice say. Michael could hear Gavin's gasps for breath, his hyperventilating. It all hurt too much. It was _murdering_ him, and there was nothing he could do.

Michael practically screamed, "No, Gavin, _don't hang up_!"

"Hang up the phone," the man said again, this time a little more sternly.

And then, Gavin's shaky voice said the words Michael had never, ever thought Gavin would say.

"_B-bye, Michael_."

The line went dead.

* * *

"Gavin! _Gavin_! _God damn it_!" Michael's heart thudded in his chest, his teeth bit down on his cheek. He tried to keep his breathing steady, but it was so difficult, it hurt far too much. Michael was almost there – maybe two minutes away now – but every second seemed to drag on forever. His own, gasping breaths sounded like somebody else's. He tried to think logically, to tell him that Gavin was going to be all right, but the only words he could think and understand were "_find Gavin_."

_Fuck, I'll never be mean to him again. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck._

Michael finally turned the last corner. His hands were sweating profusely, his brain not functioning.

Everything was a blur, but somehow his eyes focused right on Gavin, and the two guys wearing black, and especially the one holding a knife to Gavin's neck.

Michael's palm hit the car's horn so hard it physically hurt. _Step away from him, fuckers_.

Gavin, as well as his attackers, jumped. They all turned to look at Michael's car. The headlights illuminated Gavin's face, and Michael could see a glistening wetness running down his cheek.

Oh, no.

Fuck no.

_Nobody makes Gavin cry_.

The two thugs stayed for the better part of two seconds after Michael arrived. They suddenly took off running, one of them still holding the knife.

Michael was filled with a positively blinding fury that they had actually tried to hurt Gavin when he was in the _same fucking city_.

Michael parked the car illegally, right in front of where Gavin was standing, in shock. Gavin's phone was on the floor and he looked like he was having some trouble breathing.

Michael, seething with rage, opened the car door and rushed out, slamming it behind him. Gavin blinked, a few more tears falling from his eyes. He took a few shaky steps towards Michael.

And then, Michael pulled Gavin into a hug he'd never given anyone before.

Usually, if Michael hugged someone, it was a tender embrace, to let them know Michael liked them. He usually threw his arms around their whole bodies and let them curl up against his chest, like he was a giant, loving teddy bear. But now, he didn't just hug Gavin – he aggressively pressed Gavin's chest against his own. He slid his arms under Gavin's, his hands grabbing blindly at Gav's shoulder-blades. He pressed his nose into the place where Gavin's neck met his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him, feeling his lips press into the Brit's skin. His hands closed tightly, scrunching up some of Gavin's sweatshirt, but he didn't care. It was only _proof_, proof that Gavin was here, with Michael, safe from harm. Proof that Michael would never let him go.

Michael pulled Gavin into him with such force that they both stumbled back until eventually Michael's backside met with his car. Neither of them noticed, locked in their embrace. Gavin was sniffling, scrunching up bits of Michael's shirt with his left hand, though not as aggressively as Michael himself, who was clinging so tightly to Gavin his knuckles were turning white. Gavin's right hand found its way into Michael's hair, running through the red curls, tangling itself in them.

For a minute, Michael and Gavin just breathed, each trying not to break into fits of sobbing. They held each other, there in the dark of night, both never wanting to let go.

Michael had never been so happy in his entire life. He was so glad to even _see _Gavin that it was a miracle he wasn't sobbing at his feet. He felt Gavin's chest against his own, Gavin's chin resting on his shoulder, Gavin's hand in his hair, one of Gavin's legs brushing against his own.

All too soon, he had to let Gavin go. His hands loosened their grips, and he slowly pulled away, blinking tears out of his eyes and observing Gavin's face, and all its perfections. To think, all he really had to do was lean forward, and he'd be kissing him. Their lips would touch and they would be kissing. Michael thought about telling Gavin just how handsome he was, or how badly he wanted to touch his face.

"Go pick up your phone," Michael said.

Gavin picked up his phone. They both got into Michael's car.

They sat, for a while, in complete silence. Then, Michael said, with a bit of intensity: "Are you all right?"

Gavin wiped his face, down which fresh tears were streaming. "Yeah, I'm – I'm fine."

"Did they hurt you?"

"No, Michael, they—"

"Did they hurt you, Gavin?"

"No, Michael."

Michael tried to steady his breathing. He looked at Gavin, who was looking down at his hands, folded in his lap. The most precious thing in the world to Michael, and he'd almost lost him. Michael wanted so badly to kiss him right then, _so badly_ to run his hands through Gavin's hair and bite his lip and breathe him in, with more passion and heat than he'd ever experienced, and just _kiss_ him until the sun came up.

But he didn't.

"W-we've gotta call Geoff," Michael said, pulling up his phone. His hands were still trembling, and he kept dropping it. "Mother_fucker_!"

"Here, I've got it," Gavin said, and took Michael's phone. Gavin dialed Geoff. Michael trembled in his seat.

Geoff picked up after a few rings. "Hello?"

Gavin's lip trembled at the sound of Geoff's voice. "Geoff, I got got!"

Over the phone, Michael heard a muffled "_What the fuck_."

"God damn it," Michael said, and took the phone back. Keeping his voice as calm as he could, he said to Geoff: "Geoff, listen. Gavin got mugged."

"Oh my god! Is he—?"

"Yeah, he's fine, I've got him." Michael looked over at Gavin and, without meaning to, softly repeated, "I've got him."

"Well, okay man, I hope everything's all right."

Gavin took the phone back. "Geoff, can I stay at Michael's tonight?"

"Of course, Gavin. I'll see you tomorrow, man, all right? I love you."

"I – I love _you_, Geoff."

Geoff hung up.

* * *

The drive back to Michael's apartment was silent. When they got home, Gavin curled up on the couch and almost immediately fell asleep. Michael covered him with the softest blanket he had. Then he locked the door four times.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Thank you guys so much for reading. I can't tell you how much it means to me. If you want to tell me how much you liked or loved this chapter, why don't you tell me in the reviews? If you want to yell at me for giving you these feels so late into the evening, you can do that too :)

Thanks again! Much love.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Holy fucking shit," said Lindsay.

Michael, Gavin, and Lindsay were all hanging out at the food court in the mall, before they would go to see the latest hilariously bad superhero movie.

"I know," Gavin agreed, smiling brightly as he put a few fries in his mouth. "Michael yelled at me the next morning."  
"I did not 'yell' at you," Michael said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, you did!" Gavin insisted. Imitating Michael and throwing his hands wildly up in the air, Gavin continued: "_Gavin, don't you know it's dangerous to go alone in the middle of the night, you stupid fuckface_?"

Lindsay was laughing. Michael's face flushed.

"Shut up, Gavin, you dumb prick! You shouldn't have gone all by yourself. You could really have gotten hurt!"

Gavin winked at him, in a particularly seductive way that made Michael's head spin. "Are you saying you were worried about me?"

"Fuck _yes_ I was worried about you, you motherfucking idiot!"

"And what'd Griffon say?" asked Lindsay, taking a sip from her soda can, a few giggles escaping from her mouth.

"Griffon would not stop hugging me," Gavin laughed. "Geoff was happy to see me, too. I was just grateful to be back home, finally."

Lindsay cocked her head. "Why were you out in the street? Are you really just an idiot?"

Michael looked closely at Gavin. That's what he had been wondering, too. Gavin ditches him for a whole day, then suddenly calls him asking for a ride home after he found out there were some assholes following him? Why was Gavin out in the middle of the night?

"I was shopping," Gavin said. He looked a little bit nervous.

"Shopping for what?" Lindsay asked.

"Uh, it's not important," Gavin waved his hand as if dismissing the conversation. When he saw Michael still looking at him, eyebrows furrowed, he quickly added, "Personal stuff."

Michael let out an almost inaudible sigh of frustration and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He didn't see it, but Lindsay nodded understandingly at Gavin.

She immediately changed the subject. "We'd better get going. We don't want to miss any of this movie, do we?"

Michael, Gavin, and Lindsay all laughed as they got up and started heading towards the mall's theatre. They already knew the movie was going to be piss-poor. They had no reason to think that it wouldn't. But they liked hanging out together.

* * *

"C'mon, open it, man!" Ray said excitedly, almost jumping up and down.

Michael tore apart the wrapping paper, still incredulous that he'd forgotten his own birthday. With everything that had been happening with Gavin, especially him getting mugged, he supposed that his day of birth had simply slipped his mind. His birthday had fallen on a weekday, so as soon as he finished recording for the day, Geoff had invited him to the break room to open his presents and eat a small cake Lindsay had made for him.

He tore off the last bit of paper and was met with a cardboard box that contained a little Mogar doll that Ray had made himself.

"Dude!" Michael exclaimed, picking up the soft doll and its accessory. "It even has a little sword and everything!"

"Well, you know," Ray said modestly. "You need someone in that bed besides yourself."

Michael laughed his signature, giggly laugh. "Thanks so much, you asshole."

One by one, most of the Achievement Hunters and Rooster Teeth employees gave Michael their presents, ranging from small gift cards to Minecraft-related action figures, and, in Lindsay's case, a detailed picture of Link made entirely from perler beads.

"Thanks, beautiful," he said gratefully to Lindsay, who ruffled his hair affectionately in return. "This is going up on my wall."

Finally, it was Gavin's turn. Holding a small package in his hand, he practically skipped up to Michael and gave him a card, smiling largely.

"Awww," Geoff cooed. "What's it say?"

Michael tried not to tremble with excitement as he read the card aloud. He didn't notice it, but Gavin was blushing.

_Dear Mi-cool,_

_Thank you for saving my life. I don't think I'd be here if it weren't for you. Or at least, those guys would have stolen my wallet, so I wouldn't be able to get this present for you. I know you don't have one of these, which is bloody outrageous. I hope you enjoy it forever._

_You're my boi,_

_Gavin_

Gavin handed Michael the package wordlessly, a huge smile stretching across his face. Michael grinned at the British-flag wrapping paper it came in, but his smile quickly fell when he ripped open the paper and revealed the present inside.

"Majora's…Mask…?" Michael said incredulously.

"Do you like it?" Gavin asked, cocking his head and looking concernedly at Michael. He wasn't smiling. He was only staring at the copy of the game, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.

Michael had no words. He hadn't even told Gavin he didn't have this game. The only person he'd told was Ryan. Did that mean that Gavin had been paying attention to their conversation? He turned the copy over in his hands. How in the world had Gavin managed to get this? Michael had looked all over town for one, and he'd never found one.

"Holy shit, he's fuckin' speechless!" Geoff said in awe.

"I – I don't…" Michael began.

"That was really nice of you, Gavin," Barbara said, resting a hand on Gavin's shoulder. "He's been looking for that forever."

"I don't know what to say," said Michael. _I'm not crying. I'm not fucking crying in front of everyone._

"Hug him, Gav!" Griffon exclaimed suddenly.

The entirety of the Rooster Teeth staff chanted, "Hug him! Hug him!" Michael stood up. Gavin and Michael, both blushing red, pulled each other into a close hug that made Michael think that maybe things weren't going to be exactly the same ever since they hugged that night. The hairs raised on his arms when Gavin rubbed his back, and the back of his neck tingled.

He couldn't help but continually wonder, however:

_How in the flying fuck did Gavin remember I don't have Majora's Mask?_

He'd considered it before, but the unanswered question was murdering him inside. He liked Gavin. He liked everything about him; his hair, his accent, his eyes, even his mouth alone was enough to send Michael reeling into a state of woozy panic. Ever since he'd realized his feelings for Gavin, all he'd wanted to do was press his lips against Gavin's, touch his back and face and ass, and even hug him all day long. And Gavin had made it really difficult, considering that he never pushed Michael away or mentioned other girls or guys in Michael's presence.

Like he was used to, he pushed the thought aside as he and Gavin pulled away from the hug.

_Gavin can never like me._

* * *

That evening, Michael invited Gavin over to his house to play video games, even though he had tried to stop himself by eating dinner (twice), unnecessarily shaving his face, and, at one point, literally throwing his own phone across the room. He knew it wasn't good for him to be this fucking close to Gavin all the time, especially when he couldn't even breathe at the thought of him and Gavin…_together_. Or when he was trying to convince himself that Gavin didn't like him, but then Gavin would be closer to him or touch him or hug him.

He'd played Majora's Mask a million times before, so he let Gavin have a swing at it – no Master Sword pun intended. It took him about 5 minutes to come up with a name (Michael was nearly ripping his hair out by the end of those 5 minutes) but he finally settled on "GAVINO."

As Gavin progressed through the beginning parts of the game, meeting the Skull Kid, Tatl and Tael, and being turned into a Deku Scrub, Michael instructed him carefully.

"Listen, Gavin, this game has a three-day mechanic. You can't just fuck around all the time. You have to focus on the mission at hand."

"Is that a puppy?" Gavin asked, disregarding the mission at hand.

"Don't go near it! It doesn't like you when you're—"

Michael was interrupted by Gavin's yelling and laughter.

"—a Deku Scrub," finished Michael, sighing. "Just go and find those dumb fucking kids so you can get into their headquarters."

"This game is fun," Gavin kept saying, looking fucking delighted out of his mind. He turned to smile at Michael – _fuck_ – and continued wasting time, gallivanting around Clock Town like the world wasn't about to end.

Michael quickly realized that it was a lost cause. Gavin was the most content, happy-go-lucky guy around. There was no way he was going to be able to understand the dark, depressing themes of a game like Majora's Mask, let alone progress far enough in the game to even understand what was going on.

It was Michael's first instinct to grab the controller from him in anger, and finish the task Gavin was refusing to acknowledge before all his time ran out.

But he just watched him play. Eventually, the grimacing moon in the game crashed down onto Clock Town and killed everyone.

* * *

Michael was getting more confused by the day. Every time he thought he might be over the whole "holy shit, Gavin might actually like me" thing, the British idiot would do something else to lead him on. He'd touch his hair, stand way, way too close to him for comfort, and call him things like "Mikey Wikey," and not just in front of the guys. When they were alone. Hanging out. Together. On a date? No. Not dating. Get a goddamn hold of yourself, Michael, you're losin' it.

One day while the guys were all recording a Let's Play, Gavin said out of the blue:

"That last Rage Quit was really funny, Michael."

There was a clattering sound. Flushing, Michael bent down to pick up his controller. "Oh, you think so, Gav?"

Gavin giggled as he answered. "I couldn't stop laughing."

Michael hadn't even realized Gavin watched his Rage Quits, let alone enjoyed them. How was he supposed to record them now? Millions of Internet strangers watching his rants of righteous, uncensored anger was no big fucking deal. Gavin Free watching them was a whole different story.

Or when Gavin used his deep "Oh, Olympics" voice one time while urging his Grand Theft Auto character to go faster and Michael's hard-on nearly split his desk in two.

"I gotta use it. Be right back," Michael had said, then dashed out of the room faster than he ever had before.

Or, of course, when they were both playing video games at the office together, just the two of them, not recording or anything. Gavin stops talking to smile at Michael, and Michael turns to look at him, but felt his heart skip a beat as he realized Gavin was so close he could feel his breath on his tingling skin. And maybe Michael would have leaned just a few inches forward if someone hadn't walked in at that moment. He couldn't remember who exactly had walked in, but he was angry with them.

Gavin came over more often, saying he "won't ruff up Clock Town this time, Michael!" Michael Fucking "Rage Quit" Jones was so sexually frustrated each time Gavin came along, he wanted to rip his own hair out. But it wasn't like that was going to stop him.

As Gavin turned on the console, he turned to Michael and asked, "Does this game have multiplayer?"

"Of course not. Why?"

Gavin's eyebrows knotted. "I just feel sad that you never get to play."

Michael, who was sitting on the couch at the time, pulled his legs to his chest and tried to hide his crimson face. "I've played it a million times. It's okay, Gavin."

"Why don't we do what we did at Surgeon Simulator?" Gavin suggested, bringing the controller with him to sit next to Michael.

"Mmm?" Michael was barely paying attention, watching Gavin's lips move.

"You take the joystick, and I'll push A and B."

_I'll take _your_ joystick_. "Oh, yeah…I – I mean, you sure?"

"Yeah, c'mon." Gavin reached out with one hand on the controller. Michael tentatively took the other half, making damn well sure his fingers didn't touch Gavin's long, spindly ones.

It just so happens that when people play time-sensitive games, they tend to get a little absorbed. In the beginning, Michael and Gavin were both sitting casually on the couch, talking about seemingly unimportant things as they controlled little GAVINO around Clock Town. But soon they were jumping up and down, trying desperately to catch the kids strategically hidden around Clock Town, and laughing so hard they couldn't even breathe.

It was _much_ more difficult than Surgeon Simulator, and Michael and Gavin had never even beat it. Link moved faster when he somersaulted, but to do a somersault, you had to press A while you were running, and Michael, who was in charge of the joystick, never knew in which direction Gavin wanted to somersault. Likewise, Gavin couldn't figure out when to press A to actually do the somersault. And you really couldn't catch the kids walking at Link's leisurely pace.

Finally, Michael had to pause. "We're never going to catch them," he said in between giggles, trying to catch his breath.

Gavin was snickering, the little crow's feet around his eyes appearing as he laughed. "Well, maybe we would catch them if you weren't so _awful_!"

"Shut u-up!" Michael laughed, using the hand that wasn't still clutching onto the controller to playfully hit Gavin's shoulder.

And then it was happening again. Gavin's laugh quieted, as did Michael's, and then they were both just looking at each other again, into each other's eyes. When Gavin looked at him that way, Michael felt as if he was reaching in and taking a piece of his heart out, with every second that passed. Gavin's smile faded, leaving a slightly-open pair of soft-looking, pink lips. Michael's eyes drifted across every feature of the Brit's face, and wondered what his life would be like without him. Miserable, for sure.

He'd been staring at Gavin for longer than was socially acceptable. He was about to suggest that they unpause the game and continue.

But Gavin leaned forward and kissed him before he could.

It was a short, warm, and bashful kiss that barely left any time for Michael to part his lips. In the second Gavin's lips were there, Michael felt his brain shut off, his eyes close as if on instinct, and his tongue press slightly forward, Gavin's soft lips leaving an imprint on his own that he wouldn't forget for quite a while.

But Gavin pulled back. His face was a deep shade of red, redder than Michael had ever seen it. He wouldn't look Michael in the face. The only thing Gavin's eyes would sweep was the floor, then eventually the controller, to which both men still desperately clung. Gavin let it go.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know why I did that."

"Wha—what—?"

Gavin looked up at Michael's face for a fraction of a second, then back down at the floor. "I, um…I think I have to go," he said, then swiftly bent down to pick up his shoes, throwing them on as he hastily made way for the door.

Michael tried to say "wait," but it came out so breathlessly, so feebly, that Gavin didn't even hear. Michael tried again, but his voice cracked. The real sound of heartbreak.

Gavin was out the door. Running down the hall.

Michael couldn't move, but he managed to yell hoarsely: "Gavin, wait!"

The door creaked shut behind him, somehow a familiar sight.

Michael stared at the controller in his hand, wondering what had just happened.

"…Gavin…?" was all he could manage to whisper.

* * *

**Author's Note**:

Thank you so much, blah blah. Idrc

Just kidding, of course :) thank you all so much, from the deepest, crimson parts of what's left of my heart. I love to hear that so many of you are reading and enjoying this fic. I work really hard to make it nice for you, and the fact that you appreciate it this much makes it so worthwhile. Now for some announcements.

School has started up again, so the updates are gonna slow down a little. I'm very sorry about this, but rest assured: I WILL BE UPDATING. Just a liiiiittle less often than usual.

(Also, don't you just love Lindsay? Ugh she's perfect. My little Rooster Teeth princess.)

Thanks for reading and supporting. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think! We'll push through the difficulties of life together, you'll see :)

Write you soon!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Gavin raced home in his car, salty tears welling up in his eyes. He couldn't _believe_ he had just kissed Michael on the lips. He couldn't believe he had just pulled what was probably the stupidest stunt he'd ever done.

He couldn't believe he wanted to do it again.

The worst part was Michael's face when he'd done it: completely stunned, eyes wide, mouth gaping open and trying to grasp words. And Gavin had run away from him like a fucking coward. How could he have been such an idiot? Not only had Gavin kissed Michael when he wasn't sure he felt the same way, but Michael was his best friend, too. And his _coworker_, on top of everything. How was he supposed to walk into the Rooster Teeth office as if nothing had happened? What was he going to do when he had to talk to Michael about what he'd done? Was there any way he could explain the kiss while still appearing straight? _What would Michael say?_

_ "I'm sorry I did that, Michael."_

_ "Fuck off, Gavin, don't touch me. Move back to England and never come back. Be right back. Tweeting about how you're not my friend anymore!"_

Gavin tried to convince himself the stated conversation would never happen, and that Michael's friendship with him could overcome any misunderstanding, but he wasn't entirely sure he believed it.

* * *

Gavin sulked all day at home. He tried to remain his cheerful self when Geoff, Griffon, and Millie were around, but he couldn't smile the way he usually did. His heart sank every time he thought about what happened, and he couldn't stop thinking about it.

He didn't know why he did it. Over the past couple weeks, he felt like maybe Michael felt a similar way about him. Sometimes Michael would call him "Gavvy" without realizing it, or put his hand on his back, and especially after the night Gavin was attacked, Michael would grab fistfuls of Gavin's shirt when they hugged. Gavin liked that a lot. And there was one Let's Play where Michael's character died a few times because Michael kept looking over at Gavin. Gavin had pretended not to notice. But he had.

Could Michael really not have felt the same way? Had Gavin misread him?

_I'm such an idiot. I knew he could never like me back. And now…I've lost him._

"Uh, Gavin?"

Gavin, who had been zoning out on the couch, blinked and looked up at Geoff. "Hey, Geoff."

Geoff's eyebrows furrowed. "Are you…feeling all right? You seem different."

"I'm great," replied Gavin with a half-assed smile.

Geoff gave him a look that nonverbally communicated the words _"Are you kidding me?"_

Gavin sighed and pulled his legs up to his chest. "I'm not great, Geoff. I feel like rubbish."

Master Chief sat down next to him, rubbing the stubble on his chin with one hand and patting Gavin's shoulder lightly with the other. "What happened, Gav?"

Gavin knew he couldn't tell Geoff what exactly had happened. He didn't want to ruff things up any more than he already had. But he had to tell Geoff _something_.

"I've done a dumb thing," Gavin explained. "And I don't want to tell you what I did, but I think I'm going to lose someone I care about."

Gavin had never been afraid to speak his mind, no matter what strange things were running through it. He'd told the guys about how he got hit in the dick with a frozen egg, for God's sake. Geoff knew that if Gavin didn't want to talk about something he did, it must have been downright idiotic. Or awful. Or both. Geoff decided immediately that he wouldn't ask him to clarify.

"Sorry, Gavin."

Gavin put his forehead on his knees and groaned miserably.

Geoff thought carefully. "Well, does the person care about you, too?"

Gavin shrugged. "I think so, but I don't know for sure."

"Well, dude. You should just explain yourself. If you fucked up, you should go and apologize. And if they're a person worth having in your life, then they'll forgive you."

Gavin turned to look at Geoff. He'd forgotten just how wise he could be. But something occurred to him. "What if I effed up so bad, they don't want to talk to me?"

"Then, wait it out I guess. No one can stay mad at _you_ forever." He returned Gavin's smile, then stood up and left to go find Griffon.

Gavin felt a little better having spoken to Geoff about it, but he still was unsure whether he could face Michael at work on Monday. He wondered if he should fake illness and stay home for…ever. But he never got sick, except for a few days before where he'd spent the day at Michael's apartment and they talked and watched movies and laughed and – and – _no_. No more Michael. Ever.

Gavin had noticed how people on the Internet sometimes said they wanted to throw themselves off a cliff when they were sad, or reminded of something sad. He understood how they felt. He had never felt more like rubbish in his entire life. And it didn't help that everything reminded him of Michael. Gav's Creeper hat? Michael has a Mogar one just like it. Playing video games? He'd played every video game he owned with Michael at some point. Geoff's tattoos reminded Gavin of Michael's. Most of Gavin's shirts were Rooster Teeth-related, which always brought him back to Michael.

It was like he couldn't escape. His own terrible mistake was haunting him. The worst part was that he had heard Michael shout, "Gavin, wait!" as he was making his escape down the hall to the elevator. What would have happened if he had waited? What would Michael have said? Would he have forgiven him, thrown him out, or…or…or kissed him back?

* * *

Michael, in the meantime, was flipping the fuck out. He couldn't concentrate. His vision was blurry and wouldn't focus on anything. He paced around in front of the television, still clutching the controller as if it was proof of what had just happened. No coherent thoughts seemed to register in his brain; all his thoughts were like keysmashes. He couldn't believe it. Had Gavin just…kissed him? There didn't seem to be any other explanation. Their lips had touched. Their eyes had closed. Their motherfucking _lips had touched._

Michael sat down on the couch, trying to get himself to calm down. Why had Gavin kissed him? Did this mean he had the same feelings about Michael? Gavin had kissed him. Michael hadn't leaned in or anything. Gavin had. Gavin kissed him first.

The words finally registered.

_Gavin likes me back_.

Michael stared at the controller in his hand. His breathing was slowly returning to normal. He slowly put the controller down on the couch beside him.

And silently, explosively, Michael cheered. He raised to victory signs in the air. He realized that what he was doing was stupid as all fuck. But he didn't give a shit.

_Gavin likes me! Gavin actually likes me!_

After he finished his extremely lame, silent celebration, another thought occurred to him. _Yes, Gavin likes me. But he also just ran out of here._

He looked at the door, which was still ajar. He got up, then closed it in a state of wonder. Gavin Free had actually kissed him. Sure, the guy was kind of a pile of question marks in general, but there's no way Michael misjudged _that_ one, right?

He vaguely noticed the Clock Town theme playing in the background and he looked back at the screen, where little GAVINO was still standing, right in front of Tingle.

And then Michael got the best idea. It was sappy, and really dumb, and something he would never live down if the guys knew about it, but he didn't care. Gavin would love it. That was all that mattered.

He sat down on the couch again and picked up the controller.

* * *

Gavin had made it. He made it through Friday, the day he'd kissed Michael. Now that it was finally the weekend, and he wouldn't have to see Michael again for the next two days, he could have some time to clear his head and come up with a logical explanation for why he'd tried to snog his best friend.

He had nothing.

He picked up his phone three times: one to text Ray, seeing if he had plans, and the other two to text Michael. He wrote several drafts, many of which were different variations of the word "hey."

Frustrated, he slammed his phone down on the table. Geoff had been nice enough to get him a damage-proof case, because he knew how Gavin tended to destroy everything he owned.

At that moment, his phone gave off his text-alert tone. Sighing, he picked it up, and then almost shit himself.

* * *

**New Message**

** Mi-cool **

* * *

It took every bit of testosterone in Gavin's body not to squeal like a little girl. He clumsily unlocked his phone and looked greedily at the message.

* * *

**Mi-cool:**

Hey. Wanna come over and talk things out?

* * *

Gavin's heart both fluttered and sank at the same time. Talk things out? What did that mean? Did it mean he didn't feel the same way? He did want Gavin to come over, though. That was a good sign, right?

Griffon suddenly appeared behind Gavin, making him jump three feet in the air. "Hey, Gav. Who's texting you?"

"Nobody! Nothing!" Gavin replied almost instantly.

"I'm going to ignore how suspicious that is," Griffon said, raising an eyebrow at Gavin's wide eyes. "Anyway, we're going out to the mall. You coming?"

Gavin stared at her, then back at his phone, then back at her. "No, thanks," Gavin finally said, standing up. Then, smiling his trademark Gavin Free smile, and barely containing the giddiness in his voice, he added, "I'm going over to Michael's!"

* * *

Michael tried to convince himself he was waiting patiently for Gavin's response, but the truth is that when his phone gave off its text alert tone, he pounced on it and unlocked it faster than lightning. But he couldn't stop smiling when he read the message.

* * *

**Gavin Free:**

Be right over.

* * *

No need to go into the wait for Gavin at his apartment. Needless to say, it was full of excruciating moments. Michael carefully checked that his surprise was still in order, then turned off the console and the television.

After what seemed like forever, the bell rang. Michael instantly panicked.

_Play it cool. Just gotta play it cool._

He swiftly opened the door. Gavin looked like he hadn't slept all last night. Michael hadn't slept, either, but he wasn't about to tell Gavin. His spiky, sandy blond hair stuck out in more attractive ways than usual, and his murky eyes transitioned between Michael's own brown eyes and the floor.

"H-hi, Michael."

"Uh, hey, Gavin."

It was all Michael could do not to tackle Gavin to the ground and kiss him, but he decided to resist the urge as he ushered Gavin in.

Gavin hobbled inside, then swiftly turned around, his mouth open and no words coming out. God _damn_, he was cute when he was flustered. He was redder than Michael's hair.

"Michael, I – I'm so sorry, Michael, I just—"

"It's all right, Gavin."

"I just was really – it's – what?"

Michael shrugged nonchalantly. "It's okay, man. I understand."

Gavin's eyebrows furrowed in the most adorable way. His mouth hung open. "You _what_? You're not angry?"

"No, man, why would I be angry? I'm flattered."

"Flattered?"

Michael giggled his raspy giggle. He stepped closer to Gavin and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, man. You don't have to worry, okay?"

Gavin stared quizzically at Michael for a long time, then finally started to smile. "Um…okay. Okay."

It took all of Michael's willpower to take his own hand off Gavin's shoulder. Almost physically in pain, he wrenched himself away and said lightly, "Do you want to play some video games?"

Gavin took a tentative step forward, as if he was still expecting Michael to explode with disgust. "Su-u-ure…"

Michael walked over to the couch, Gavin following him. He handed Gavin the controller, then went to turn on the console and TV. Gavin stared at the controller in his hand, then back at Michael. It clearly wasn't the reaction he had been expecting.

Majora's Mask hummed to life. Gavin pressed START at the title screen, but didn't select his character. Because he was too busy staring at the screen, processing.

Michael watched him gleefully, waiting for a reaction, but Gavin just stared, open-mouthed. Because in the three save files for the game, Michael had spelled out five words in the characters' name slots:

* * *

**I LIKE**

**YOU TOO**

**DIPSHIT!**

* * *

Gavin looked at Michael's uncontrollable smile, then back at the screen, then back at Michael. Finally, a smile stretched across his face as he realized what it meant. Gavin, still smiling like an idiot, pointed at the screen. "Does this mean you erased all my progress?"

"Come here," Michael said, then pulled Gavin into a kiss. Neither of them quit smiling.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Guys. _**Guys**_. A thousand views.

I can't believe this crazy thing has a thousand views! I'm so happy my heart is singing. Literally. I can't get it to stop. I need a hospital.

Thank you guys so much. If it weren't for you, there would be nobody reading this. And I like how people are actually reading this. It makes me feel so full of joy. I am so happy you guys are enjoying it, and for that reason alone, I love to update!

By the way, sorry the updates have been slow. The school year just started, so you know how that goes. But I'm trying my best, I swear!

I'd also like to slip in that **this fic is going to be relatively long**, so if you're worried about it ending soon, like REALLY soon, don't :)

Thanks again for all the views. Hugs. Can't wait to get started on Chapter 9!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Kissing Gavin was fucking amazing.

From the moment Michael pulled the beaming Gavin into the sweet, soft kiss he'd been waiting for, he knew he wasn't ever going to want to pull away. Gavin's lips, soft and warm, caressed Michael's, and Michael didn't know how or why, but it felt like Gavin's lips belonged on his, like they were meant to be there all along.

Gavin was a really fucking good kisser.

Michael sighed through his nose, parted his lips, and breathed in the scent of Gavin. He felt one of Gavin's hand brush his shoulder lightly, as if it was unsure of where to go, and then settle there. The other hand touched Michael's arm, running down his bicep until it rested at his elbow. Michael moved forward, getting closer to Gavin, greedily absorbing everything he could about the Brit, like a flash drive taking in information. He couldn't get enough.

His heart was pounding in his ears again, but it was okay this time. Because he hadn't been sure Gavin liked him back. And now he was sure. God damn, he was sure. He ran a hand up Gavin's back and eventually found his way into his hair, clutching desperately at it, running his fingers through it the way he'd wanted to for such a long time. It was actually happening. He was making out with Gavin. It was like some amazing, unbelievable dream come true.

If he woke up, he was going to be pissed.

But it wasn't a dream. His lips were really touching Gavin's, and they were kissing each other, and it felt so good to finally have Gavin kiss him back that he almost cheered again.

All too soon, Gavin seemed to realize something, and to Michael's disappointment, pulled away. "Wait, wait!" he gasped.

"What is it, Gav?"

Gavin looked into Michael's eyes for a second, then back at the screen where Michael's message was still displayed. "Y-you like me, too?"

Michael smiled a dimpley smile. "Of course I do, idiot!"

Gavin returned the smile, and then giggled. _Fucking giggled_—! "You like me and I like you?"

Michael bit his lip, and blushing, softly answered. "Yes, Gavin. You like me and I like you."

Gavin looked as if he was trying to think of something wise or meaningful to say.

He finally spat out, "Well...that's top."

And then he put both hands on Michael's shoulder and pulled the beaming man in for another kiss.

They kissed for a long time. Michael's hands found themselves in Gavin's hair again – he'd waited so long to run his fingers through Gavin's sandy, spiky hair, that he just couldn't resist himself. He wanted to be there forever, getting high off the taste of Gavin and snaking his fingers through the Brit's soft mane. One of Gavin's hands reciprocated, locking itself tightly in Michael's red curls, while the other rested on the back of his neck, then his shoulder, and finally his thigh.

Michael felt Gavin sigh, and his muscles relax as if he were melting. They pulled each other closer.

* * *

"So," began Ray. The Lads were all hanging out at the mall. Ray looked over at Michael and Gavin, both sitting together on the opposite side of the table. "Uh, what was it you guys wanted to talk about?"

Gavin and Michael looked at each other. Gavin seemed substantially more nervous than Michael was. And then Ray put two and two together.

"Wait," he said. He leaned forward, the traces of a smile appearing, his teeth gleaming. "You guys…are you…Michael?"

Michael smiled and then nodded slowly.

"Holy shit," said Ray in awe, then leaned back on his chair. "It actually happened. You guys, like…_like_ each other now."

Gavin blushed furiously. Michael just looked at him, grinning widely.

"So have you guys made out yet? Gavin's a little red, there."

Both Michael and Gavin said, "Shut up" at the same time.

"_Goddamn_! That's the cutest thing in the world!" Ray giggled uncontrollably, putting a hand on his forehead the way he usually did.

"God damn it, Ray, shut up!" Michael snapped halfheartedly. Ray tried to stop laughing, covering his mouth, attempting not to let air escape.

"Listen, Ray," Gavin said. His blush was still there, but he was able to look half-serious. "We need you to do us a favor."

"You need me not to tell anyone?"

Michael's mouth opened slightly, and he hesitated before asking: "How'd…how'd you know?"

"Dude. It's kind of obvious that I shouldn't tell anyone. I'm not a fuckin' dumbass. I know how everyone would react."

Michael stared for a moment, then straightened himself up. Sometimes he didn't know about Ray. It was like he was a fucking mindreader or something. "Well, okay. Glad we're clear on that."

"Congratulations, you dumb shits," Ray said gleefully, giving Michael a high-five. "I hope you're very happy together, touching penises and stuff." He went to give the gleeful Gavin a high-five too, but apparently ended up touching Gavin's hand for way too long, because Michael gave him his signature New Jersey cold stare. Ray only laughed, shook his head, and muttered, "_Goddamn_."

* * *

The next day was Monday.

Work was…a little different now.

Michael found himself whistling a lot more than usual, and especially when Gavin was around. His heart would leap when he heard Gavin's voice or even his name, and he got into fits of uncontrollable giggling during the Let's Play. He even tried to record a Rage Quit, but couldn't focus on how angry he was because Gavin was in the room with him. He asked him to leave and they ended up kissing softly for a minute before they heard someone approaching the room. Gavin quickly exited the room, his face a burning shade of red and his hair somehow even messier than it had been when he had arrived.

Ray took every opportunity to make kissy-faces, obscene gestures, or wink at Michael and Gavin. At one point, Michael, Gavin, and Ray were the only ones in the room, and Ray had to say Michael's name twice to get him to stop looking at Gavin.

It was hard being alone in a room with Gavin and not be all over him. Michael was sure Gavin felt the same way, too – he'd caught Gavin staring at him earlier and biting his bottom lip. Maybe Michael was a tease or something, but he couldn't resist raising an eyebrow seductively at Gavin. Gavin grew pale, then red, then excused himself from the room so he wouldn't have to be with Michael anymore. Michael laughed his ass off.

It was difficult acting normally, too, when everyone was around – which was always. Michael actually struggled to not call Gavin "Gavvy" all the time. The only time Michael really got with Gavin was at the end of the day, when everyone was dispersing from the office, and some rooms were relatively abandoned, so he could talk freely to Gavin about how much he liked him.

Which was a little strange – he was Michael Vincent Fucking "Rage Quit" Jones. He didn't just go gaga over someone, just like that. But everything about Gavin made Michael want to cook him a nine-course meal or go buy him some flowers or something. _Jesus, I'm gay_.

The sun was setting over Austin, and everyone was preparing to go home. Michael and Gavin, bathed in the golden light from the windows, leaned on desks and chatted on opposite sides of the room amongst the swirling bits of dust and the sound of their own hearts as they looked at each other.

"I still can't believe you like me," Gavin laughed, leaning back.

Michael blushed at how good Gavin's shirt looked on him. "Gavin, it's been two days!"

"I know!" Gavin exclaimed, then sheepishly tried to hide his _own_ blush. "I can't believe you kissed me."

"No way, dipshit, _you_ kissed _me_!"

"That's not how it went, Michael."

"Come on, yes it is," Michael giggled, "Remember? The first time? You kissed me. I didn't lean in or anything. You totally fuckin' made out with me. I had no idea you were gonna do that."

"I wasn't talking about _that_ time," Gavin answered playfully.

"Well, how about _this_ time?" In one swift motion, Michael pushed off the desk he'd been leaning on, took a stride across the room, put one hand on Gavin's waist and another on his shoulder, and pulled him in for another kiss. He craved the feel of Gavin's lips against his own, the warmth of Gavin's mouth, the Brit's hands, which always rested in places that made Michael dizzy. This time, Gavin's right hand slid down Michael's chest and closed its fingers, clutching a piece of Michael's shirt. For one heart-stopping moment, he felt Gavin's tongue in between his lips.

Then they heard someone approaching, down the hall.

As much as it hurt to tear himself away from Gavin, Michael knew it would be much worse if someone walked in to find Gavin's tongue in his mouth. He pulled himself painfully away, and took two steps back. Gavin hated it too, making a tiny pained whimper as Michael moved back.

Geoff opened the door. "Hey, Gav, you ready to head out?"

"Uh, yeah, Geoff. Be right there." Gavin turned to follow Geoff, but once he was out of the room, Gavin rushed back and gave Michael one last, quick kiss on the lips. "See ya tomorrow, Michael."

Michael stuttered. Gavin was already out the door. Michael "Rage Quit" Jones took a deep breath through his nostrils, then sighed, and smiled wider than he had in weeks. "See ya, Gavin."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hope everyone's having a fantastic week. I know I am, given all the support this has been getting! Thanks, everyone. I really mean it. Your reviews are great and I literally never tire of reading them, so why don't you consider writing up a quick one? I love to hear them and it really helps me out :) Not to mention that I love getting feedback from you guys!

Those of you in school, have a great week. It can be tough, but remember to keep calm, because that's what the Achievement Hunters would want. Can't wait to write more kissing cuties for you.

Write you soon!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It seemed each day was more heavenly than the last. On weekdays, Michael practically leapt out of bed, wanting to beat Gavin to the Rooster Teeth office to spend as much time with him as physically possible. On weekends, Gavin rarely refused a chance to hang out with Michael, and vice versa. They spent a lot of time together.

Consequently, they spent a lot of time with their tongues in each other's mouths.

Michael was so excited to see Gavin each day, he almost couldn't contain himself. But when he actually found him at the office, in a room that usually had one or two other people in it, he couldn't touch him or kiss him or put his hand greedily in his hair. And Michael drew blanks when he tried to talk to the Brit, like he'd suddenly forgotten how to speak or say something interesting. He kept trying to think of a story to tell Gavin, something – anything – to make him laugh. But all he could think was that he wanted nothing more than to put his arm around Gavin and for Gavin to put his head against Michael's chest and for them fall asleep on a couch together.

It seemed the other employees and Achievement Hunters remained oblivious to Michael and Gavin's relationship, but it was difficult not telling them, and not being obvious about it. The only other person with whom he could talk about it was Ray, who listened to Michael gushing about Gavin with amusement, every so often adding a bewildered "_goddamn_" to the conversation.

Ray had been exceptionally cool about the whole thing. He truly didn't seem to care that Michael was into dudes, or that he was into _Gavin_, of all dudes. If anything, he seemed really happy and excited about it, in the weird way. Like a fangirl. But Michael had no idea how the other employees would react about it. After all, Michael had been friends with Gavin for years and only just started to have feelings for him. What would Geoff say? He didn't seem like a homophobic guy. In fact, no one in the office had ever explicitly stated their opinions on that stuff in front of Michael. But would it all be too weird? They did live in _Texas_, after all. He loved the state, but it was one of the most anti-gay states there were.

Michael tried hard to act the same during the Let's Plays, but that was difficult, too. He didn't want to call Gavin a particularly bad word and have him be mad at him. He'd gone to Gavin several times on the subject, and every time he had said, laughing and putting a hand on Michael's chest (_fuck_) that there really wasn't anything Michael could say to make him mad during the Let's Plays. Michael felt better about calling Gavin an idiot afterwards, but he still held Gavin tighter when they kissed and apologized when he felt it necessary. Gavin really didn't seem hurt.

_Yes. A Monday_. Michael jumped out of bed, never having thought he'd say or think those words in his whole life. He debated wearing one of his regular tees, but he wanted to look nice to meet you-know-who, so he chose a particularly handsome black button-down shirt. He wondered what kind of shirt Gavin would wear. He hoped it was a tight one.

He drove excitedly, if a little bit fast, to work, tapping his fingers on the wheel and humming along to Owl City. Fans always played Owl City songs in the backgrounds of 'Mavin' videos, so Michael had grown quite attached to the singer.

Plus, he'd heard Gavin sing a little Owl City once and he had to excuse himself from the room, he was blushing so hard.

He practically skipped into the Rooster Teeth office. Kara, at the front desk, raised an eyebrow.

"You happy today, Michael?" she asked, giggling sweetly.

"How can you tell?" Michael joked. He looked around, hoping to not appear too desperate. "Geoff in yet? Gotta ask him somethin'."

Michael didn't actually have a question for Geoff, but if Master Chief was there, Gavin would be, too.

"Yup. In the break room."

Michael sped off, calling out his thanks as he was halfway down the hall.

And then there he was. Gavin. God damn, he looked even better than he had the last time Michael saw him, which was – two days ago. It had felt like forever. He instantly perked up when he saw his…his…Michael strained for a word. He was tempted to say 'boyfriend,' but it seemed too soon. They'd only been going out for a week or so.

Gavin's tousled hair stuck out enticingly. His greenish blue eyes glistened as they looked away from the coffee cup in his hand and met Michael's. He smiled, stood up, walked over, cocked his head, and avoided a kiss at the last second, giving Michael a hug instead.

"That was close," he muttered in Gavin's ear.

"Sorry," Gavin said into Michael's own ear. The skin on the back of Michael's neck tingled. "I couldn't help it. Your shirt is, uh, really nice."

Michael and Gavin smiled at each other, then pulled away. The only thing that made it bearable was that they knew they'd get a chance to kiss in the back rooms of the office while everyone was out for lunch.

Michael thought of a question and made himself go ask Geoff.

* * *

"Augh!" Gavin mumbled. "Bloo-dy hell!"

Michael chuckled, watching his character intensely on the screen. "You all right, there, Gavin?"

"No. I'm not."

Geoff was laughing, trying to hold himself together to speak into the microphone. "I guess I'd better give a little background on why Gavin's being more of a dick than usual."

"I'm _not_ being a dick, Geoff."

"Yeah, you kind of are," Ray chimed in, laughing. "What's the deal, Geoff?"

"Okay, so, fuckin', Gavin wakes up at 3 AM this morning with like the worst goddamn headache in the whole world."

Gavin let out a sigh of exasperation. "It was awful. It was like my head was going to explode or something."

Jack chuckled. "Was it worse than the time you bruised your brain and went blind?"

A chorus of laughter. Michael muttered, smiling: "Jesus Christ."

"Anyway," Geoff continued, "he was basically up in the unholy hours of the morning, walking around the living room and rubbing his neck, 'cause he slept on his neck wrong."

"Maybe that started the headache," Michael suggested.

"It was the worst night's sleep I'd ever had," Gavin complained.

"And you _never_ get to sleep, too," Ray added. "You're like an insomniac or something."

Michael couldn't focus on the conversation anymore. He felt pretty bad that Gavin had had a horrible night. For some reason, he felt he was somehow responsible. It wasn't like Gavin had slept over at his house or anything like that, but maybe he should have texted him or something. Michael had been up relatively late – he couldn't get to sleep because he'd been so excited about work the next day.

When the Let's Play was over, he went up to Gavin and said, with the fewest amounts of voice trembles he could manage, "Hey, man, you need someone to rub your neck for you?"

Gavin beamed, but quickly composed himself when he remembered that the other Achievement Hunters were still in the room. "Sure. Thanks."

Michael sat down on the couch next to Gavin, and started massaging his neck in the straightest way possible. Gavin immediately relaxed, and an almost inaudible sigh escaped through his nose. Ray watched Michael and his boyfriend, smiling happily, but quickly looked away when Michael glared at him.

There it was again. Boyfriend. _Was_ Gavin his boyfriend? Had they been together long enough for Michael to introduce Gavin as his boyfriend? What if he was moving too fast and ruined everything?

He knew there was no way Gavin would break up with him over something as dumb as calling him his boyfriend, but Michael still couldn't help freaking out. He did _not _want to say something dumb and make Gavin uncomfortable.

* * *

"Michael?"

"Yeah, Gav?"

"Thanks for the neck rub. It seriously helped me out."

"Any time."

"And sorry I was being such a douche. Bad night's sleeps do that to me."

"Oh."

Gavin rested a hand on Michael's. They were hanging out together at Michael's apartment after the recordings for the day, just him and Michael, so there was no need to hide. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I was just...just wondering."

Gavin unknowingly moved his hand from Michael's to Michael's knee, tracing circles up and down his thigh. As if it wasn't already hard enough for Michael to speak. "Wondering what?"

"Are – are we, do you think..."

Gavin looked up, into Michael's eyes.

Michael swallowed hard. "Are we...um...boyfriends, now?"

Gavin looked surprised. He slowly took his hand off Michael's knee and leaned back against the couch. "Why, don't you want to be?"

"No, of course I _want_ to be, I was just wondering...do…do _you_ want to be?" It shouldn't be this hard to get out a fucking sentence in front of him.

Gavin pretended like he was thinking hard, then leaned in and took Michael's bottom lip between his own two. When he pulled away from the kiss, he smiled at Michael, who was redder than his own hair.

Michael stammered incoherently, then tried again. "I'll, uh, take that as a yes?" Michael spat out after a moment.

Gavin chuckled, then put his hands on Michael's shoulders and pulled him in again.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hope everyone's having a wonderful week! I PROMISE I'll update more often from here on out. Thank you guys so much for supporting. Hello to the new story followers, and thanks for everything!

Mavin on, warriors.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Fuck!" Michael yelled as his character slipped and died for the tenth time. "Fucking _bollocks_!"

"Are you all right, Michael?" Gavin asked, barely containing his snickers.

"No, I'm not all right! I just died for like the _hundredth fucking time_. God _damn_ it!"

"These aren't even Let's Plays anymore for Michael," Ryan commented. "They're Let's Attempts."

Everyone burst into laughter.

"Oh god," Geoff said. "Maybe it's just too late in the afternoon for this or whatever, but that was fucking _funny_."

Michael flushed. "Shut the fuck up, you fucking nobs—_fuck_!"

"Meaningful insights from Gavin Number Two," Jack said, chuckling his signature Jack chuckle.

Geoff struggled to contain his raucous laughter. "Yeah, I swear to god, like, Michael and Gavin have been spending so much fuckin' time together that they're starting to sound like each other. Fuckin'…fans love it."

"Shut up," Michael and Gavin said at the same time. The room exploded into guffaws. Michael and Gavin both tried to hide their blushes. Ray shook his head, smiling.

"Well, I like it," Gavin said when the laughter died down. "I think it's nice."

Michael felt his heart flutter inside his chest, but he was able to respond with relative stability in his voice. "Why, thank you, Gavin."

Ray coughed subtly, which was an established signal for Michael and Gavin to try and tone down the gay. It was useful having Ray around to keep them in check. Him and Gavin were having relatively little trouble keeping it secret, besides always wanting to touch and be around each other in the office, which they couldn't do. It was annoying, but the makeout sessions between the two made it all somehow worth it.

* * *

"Way to be subtle, guys," Ray chuckled, leaning back in his chair. It was just the Lads hanging out in the game room after the Let's Play – everyone else was watching the production of the new episode of RWBY, or eating, or editing the podcasts.

"What?" demanded Michael, who was leaning back against Gavin's desk. "No one knows about me and Gavin."

Gavin, who was lying on the couch, transitioning between looking dreamily at Michael and contentedly at Ray, chimed in. "Yeah, Ray, we're being pretty careful."

Ray stared at Gavin for a moment, then said, "You're wearing Michael's shirt."

Gavin turned crimson. "No, I'm not. This is my Butterfly shirt!"

"Fluttershy," corrected Michael.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"You two, seriously," Ray said in bewilderment. "If anyone asks, I'll cover for you."

"Gavin just wanted to borrow a shirt, Ray," Michael insisted. "You don't need to cover for us."

"Michael's shirts smell nice," Gavin added, pulling the collar of the shirt up to his nose.

Ray chuckled. "Okay, love fucks, all I'm saying is, you two should be a little more careful."

Michael nodded, crossing his arms. He pushed off the desk and strolled towards the couch, where he sat next to Gavin, putting his arm around him. He leaned his head against Gavin's and closed his eyes. A giddy Gavin bit his lip and raised his eyebrows at Ray, like he couldn't believe he was dating Michael.

"We'll be careful in ten minutes," Michael said sleepily. Gavin giggled. Ray grinned.

* * *

**Gavin Free:**

You're top.

**Me:**

You're toppier.

**Gavin Free:**

You are the tippiest toppiest lad I've ever known

**Me:**

Tippity top top tippy toppy tip

That's what you are, Gavin.

**Gavin Free:**

Do you want me to come over tonight?

I can probably stay for a few hrs

**Me:**

Yeah. Get to steppin'. Got a couch here w your really dumb name on it.

**Gavin Free:**

:)

* * *

Within an hour, the doorbell rang. Michael hurriedly opened the door, then greeted Gavin with a gladdened hug. Gavin, of course, looked happy to see Michael, but he also seemed excited, too, like he had a present or something.

Gavin took off his shoes and made a graceful leap onto the couch. "Whatcha doin'?" he asked sweetly.

Michael raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Nothing. What are you doing?"

"Nuffin'."

"O-kay," Michael said, then took a tentative step into the kitchen. "So, uh, listen. What do you want to eat? I mean, I was gonna order a pizza, but we ate pizza last time, and so I don't really want to do that again. I could make you something."

Gavin's smile fell and he stared off in the distance for a second, as if it was the hardest decision he'd ever had to make. Michael smiled as he realized how much Gavin actually did it – and how fucking cute it was.

"I guess I'll have some spaghetti," he finally said, slowly.

Michael giggled. "You got it. Tomato sauce?"

"Yes, please."

Michael got out the ingredients. Usually, cooking was a chore, but he didn't mind cooking for Gavin. Gavin also had a tendency to compliment his food so thoroughly that Michael blushed every time, but that was okay too. "So, what are you so excited about, Gav?"

Gavin made a high squeaking sound, like he was about to giggle. Michael turned and gave him an "_are you all right?_" face.

"Nothing," he said.

"You're a fuckin' liar," Michael said, pointing at Gavin with the box of spaghetti. "You're happy about something."

"No, no, I'm not, I'm not. But, uh…your favorite is the yellow one, right?"

"What?" Michael stared at Gavin as he filled a pot with water.

"I think I like the pink one the most, personally, but that's okay."

"What? What the fuck are you talking about, Gavin?"

Gavin sighed, frustrated, like he was trying to search for words. "The shy one! The one that likes animals!"

"Are you talking about My Little Pony?"

"That's it!" Gavin said, pointing at Michael, who was staring in utter confusion at his boyfriend. "The name of the show escaped me for a second."

Michael smiled, reaching for the tomato paste. "Gavin, why are you talking about MLP?"

Gavin smiled sheepishly, looking down at the couch cushion. "Well, I know you like the show a lot…so I thought I'd watch it, so I could talk to you about it."

Michael almost dropped his spoon. "What? Really?"

Gavin looked thoughtful. "I mean, I haven't seen that much of it…but you and Ray are always talking about it, so I thought I would watch some."

Michael was bewildered. Gavin had never shown an interest in MLP before. "Gavin, you didn't have to do that."

"I don't know. You watched British television with me when _I_ got sick."

"Yeah, but this is different. You're like…like…" Michael tried to find a word.

"The best boyfriend ever?" Gavin suggested hopefully.

"Well, yeah, but I mean – Gavin, you don't have to do that. It's okay if you're not into MLP."

"But you and Ray talk about it all the time. Who's Derpy?"

Michael giggled. He couldn't believe Gavin would go to such lengths just to talk to Michael about something. "All right, listen. We'll watch some episodes together, and if you like it, then we can watch it more often, all right?"

Gavin perked up at the offer. Michael left the food briefly on the oven for a second to run to the couch and give Gavin a quick kiss, only supposed to last one or two seconds.

The food almost burned.

* * *

"Michael has been in a really good mood this week," Kara was saying.

Ray was lying down on one of the couches in the break room, hanging out with some of the ladies and Kerry. The rest of the Achievement Hunters had gone home, and presumably, Gavin was at Michael's place, probably macking on each other or something.

"I know," Barbara said. "Remember a few weeks ago when Michael got so mad at Gavin, he yelled at him?"

"Don't remind me," Kerry said, groaning. "That was terrifying."

Lindsay laughed. "Well, they're both pretty happy now."

Ray sensed danger.

"Yeah, their friendship is like…better than ever," Kara commented. "They're always hanging out and stuff outside of the office."

"They've always been pretty close," Lindsay added. "I bet that was their first fight ever."

Ray knew he'd have to end this conversation soon. "At least he apologized," he said, being careful not to speak too quickly.

"Yeah," agreed Kerry. "He probably felt really bad about it."

"And now they're back to, like, wearing each other's shirts and stuff," Barbara said, giggling.

"Oh, yeah," Ray said casually. He remembered what Michael had told him. "Apparently all of Gavin's shirts were, like, in the wash or something, so he had to borrow Michael's fuckin' Fluttershy shirt."

"His Flutter-shirt," Barb said immediately. Everyone groaned.

"Shut up! It's back on!" Kerry said immediately, then grabbed the remote and turned up the volume on _America's Next Top Model_.

Ray inwardly sighed as he knew the Mavin conversation was over.

_If those idiots aren't careful, everyone's going to find out soon._

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Thanks so much for reading everyone! I think everyone, at some point, would like to believe that Michael Jones cooks sometimes. Whoa, sorry. Just got a little dizzy there.

Nevertheless, thank you always for reading and keeping up with this! I'll try my best to keep up with it too. Happy weekend!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Michael felt his heart drop. "Wh-what?"

Gavin looked down apologetically. "I'm sorry, Michael."

"Two weeks?"

Gavin nodded, cupping Michael's elbows in his hands. Michael did the same with Gavin's elbows. Sometimes it felt even more intimate than kissing, when they held each other's arms that way. "I'm sorry."

"But..." Michael strained for words, finding none. He felt an overwhelming, crushing wave of sadness wash over him. "But that's such a long time!"

"They've already bought my tickets. There's nothing I can do."

"When do you leave?"

"Next Sunday."

That was only five days away. Michael had been away from Gavin for way longer than two weeks before, but the cold hard fact of the matter was that Michael wasn't fucking sure he could make it without Gavin this time. How was he supposed to survive without him?

"England is stupid," Michael said, pouting. "You shouldn't go there. Tell them I say you can't go."

Gavin gave off just the faintest hint of a peach-colored smile. "Michael, two weeks isn't that long. You have Ray and Lindsay and Geoff and everyone. You need to worry more about me."

Michael scoffed. "You? Oh, what, like I'm gonna worry about you when you're in the same country as like...Tom Hiddleston and shit."

Gavin raised an eyebrow and Michael immediately knew he was never going to live down what he just said.

"Uh, I paid attention to your British programs a little," Michael said quickly. "Just a little."

"You should worry about me," Gavin said, "because I won't have you around to look at."

Michael actually felt the blood creeping up his neck. "Yeah, well," he stammered, "it's your own fault, you fucking idiot. You just _had_ to go visit your relatives, huh?"

How did Gavin manage to turn from stupid and annoying as hell, to the sexiest fertility beast that ever walked the planet in a matter of seconds? Gavin blinked slowly, smiling, and leaned in, cocking his head. Michael met the kiss with barely contained eagerness, taking Gavin's top lip in between his own and finding himself so intoxicated that he almost forgot the most important thing in the world to him was leaving for a whole two weeks.

* * *

"So, uh, this morning Gavin told us he has to go to England for two weeks," Geoff said into his microphone.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," whimpered Gavin.

"We'll miss you too, Gav," Ray assured him, then sneaked a look at Michael, who shook his head. It was clear to see that Michael had not been in the best of moods ever since Gavin had told him the news. It was only after Ray found out that Gavin was leaving that he figured out why Michael had been so pissy, since Gavin had told Michael before anyone else.

"It's gonna be so fuckin' quiet at my house," Geoff was saying. "Maybe I'll finally be able to get shit done."

Gavin smiled. "I don't know, Geoff, maybe I'll call you just to, like...dispel the quiet a little bit."

"Speaking of quiet," Ryan chimed in, "Michael hasn't said much about it."

Oh, goddammit, Ryan.

Michael saw an opportunity to be truthful, and he pounced on it. "I don't really have to. Gavin knows I'm gonna miss him most of all, 'cause he's my boi."

Out of the corner of his eye, Michael saw Gavin blush. Yes. Michael fucking loved making Gavin blush. It seemed that Gavin could make Michael blush with ease; all he needed to do was run his hand through his own hair the way he did, or bite his lip, or blink sleepily. It was nice to know that Michael could actually fucking reciprocate once in a while.

"Well, shit. If that isn't the most touching thing," Ray commented, and everyone laughed. That was one of the best things about having Ray in on the whole Michael/Gavin thing: Ray could be saying it sarcastically, but Michael and Gavin knew that he meant it with all his heart.

* * *

Time was a bitch, and she wasn't slowing down for anyone, least of all Michael.

Michael tried to make his last few days with Gavin as sweet as possible, but he couldn't help but be saddened by the fact that his best friend, and boyfriend, would be leaving for England in a matter of days. And maybe two weeks really wasn't that long of a time, not in the span of the whole universe, at least, but it was going to be excruciating not having Gavin around. Michael only found the strength to go to work for two reasons: the fans, and Gavin. He supposed he did have the other Achievement Hunters, and the ladies, and the rest of the guys and shit to hang out with, but nothing was ever the same when Gavin wasn't around.

It was like that even before Michael realized his giant dick crush on Gavin. They'd been best friends, and still were. No matter how much Michael teased him, he'd always been slightly sadder if Gavin had to go someplace without him. And now, when he could kiss and touch and hug him and not feel weird, he had to leave again.

Gavin was pained, too. His family had bought him tickets to go to England and visit them, and it wasn't like Gavin could say no to that.

Michael and Gavin were sitting in the break room of the Rooster Teeth office, discussing it. They couldn't kiss or anything, because there was a cluster of people there, chatting and drinking some beer. But they sat with their legs sprawled out, leaning back against the armrests and playfully kicking each other like they'd done so many times before.

"Can't you just…Skype them or something?" Michael was saying, feigning anger. "Why do you have to go _now_?"

"I wish," Gavin said, smiling sadly. "I guess they just can't get enough of all _this_."

_I know how they feel_. "Gavin, do you have any idea how much content you're gonna miss on the channel?"

"I'm sorry. I know the Let's Plays are different without me. But two weeks isn't a long time at all, Michael."

Michael pouted again. He knew that there was no way Gavin was gonna be able to stay. He had shit to do, bitches to see. Just like everyone else. And it wasn't like Gavin wasn't going to miss him. He constantly had to remind himself that Gavin was going to suffer just as much as Michael did. Which was not an understatement.

"Well," said Michael, crossing his arms. "I hope you have a nice vacation, then." He looked away from Gavin.

Gavvers smiled. "You're not mad at me," he said playfully.

"The fuck I'm not," Michael said as forcefully as he could manage, but he still couldn't suppress his smile. Gavin was just too cute.

* * *

The day had come. Sunday. And Gavin had to leave.

Michael quickly offered – and insisted upon – driving Gavin to the airport. A somewhat confused but understanding Geoff accepted his offer, and said his quick, manly goodbyes to Gavin – a pat on the back and a "come home soon, fuckwit."

Michael was quiet and melancholy the whole drive. Gavin was relatively quiet, too, knowing that Michael was in a crappy mood and was therefore not to be messed with. Michael thought he was going to shit himself when an Owl City song came on the radio and Gavin reached to turn up the volume, and started mindlessly humming along. God damn, Michael was going to miss him. What the hell was he supposed to do all alone, without his chippy little Brit?

Michael couldn't remember wandering throughout the airport looking for the terminal – all he could think about was what he was going to do when he had to go back home and make something of himself that didn't involve running his hands through Gavin's hair.

And then Gavin and Michael reached customs. And it was time to say goodbye.

_Fuck this_, Michael thought. _Fuck this. Fuck this up the ass_.

Gavin turned around, the British flag-themed knickknacks on his backpack jingling.

"I'll see you soon," he said, biting his lip.

"I'll see you soon," Michael agreed. The worst part was, he couldn't even kiss Gavin one last time, not in front of everyone.

Gavin half-smiled, his eyes sad. Gavin Free. Sad. There was _definitely_ something wrong with the world.

And then he turned to go, but someone's arm reached out to grab Gavin's backpack before he could take a step. Michael looked down at the tattoos on it and realized it was his own arm. Weird.

Gavin looked at Michael's arm tattoos too, then up at Michael's eyes, which were looking at the floor, and appeared deep in thought. "What is it, Michael?"

"I—I don't know," Michael said. He really didn't. He didn't know why he'd stopped Gavin before he could leave.

Gavin turned back around to face Michael and waited patiently.

"I—" Michael began, but his throat was dry. He looked up at Gavin's sad eyes. "I—I'm—I just—just c'mere, Gavin."

Gavin's eyes widened with genuine surprise as Michael entwined one hand in the hair at the top of his head, and used the other to gently pull Gavin's chin forward into a kiss. Gavin's eyes fluttered closed and he sank into the kiss, pulling Michael forward, feeling his heart pound as Michael slipped his tongue in between Gavin's lips. He pushed into the warmth of the kiss, the sweetness of it, and felt his own hands fall to rest on Michael's hips.

Michael came to his senses before Gavin did, and pulled abruptly away.

"You're gonna – gonna miss your – flight, dumbass," he gasped.

It took all of Gavin's strength just to nod, turn, and walk away. His cheeks felt red, his hair was messy, and all he wanted to do was pull Michael behind an escalator or something and make out with him all day long. He didn't, though. He couldn't.

Michael watched Gavin stumble through customs. He knew he probably shouldn't have kissed Gavin out in the open like this, but he didn't give a fuck. As long as the Rooster Teeth guys didn't find out, it was all right with him.

Michael's legs felt like noodles. He stumbled out of the airport. He was gonna miss Gavin even more now that they'd shared that kiss together.

_Fuckin' worth it._

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Awww. Looks like Michael's gonna have a difficult time in the office without his Gavvy Wavvy. At least Gavin's gonna miss him too!

As always, thanks for reading. Got a few new followers, to whom I say "hello!" Hope you guys are enjoying this story so far. Consider leaving a review? I love reading them and they help me out a lot! Have a wonderful week, everyone!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Michael walked into the Rooster Teeth office the day Gavin left with the biggest, unwavering frown on his face. As he walked in through the front doors, Kara lifted her head from the paperwork she'd been looking at.

"Hi Mich—oh," she stammered, getting a glimpse of his face. "Goodbyes were rough, huh?"

It took all of Michael's will not to sigh with frustration. He hated being so pissy with everyone – he seemed to be making a habit of it lately – and he especially didn't want everyone to start getting suspicious of him and Gavin. But falling asleep the previous night and waking up that morning had been far too difficult without the promise that he'd see his dapper Brit.

Michael forced a smile. "Glad you're doing okay, though," he told Kara. He couldn't stand to make her feel bad. She was like a little sister to everyone in the office.

Michael trudged into the break room. Ray was sprawled out on the couch in the most relaxed fucking position in the world, and Kerry was sitting at the very end, by Ray's feet, saying something to him.

Kerry looked up. "Whoa, Michael, where's the fire, man?"

"In England," Ray said almost immediately, and the two shared a laugh that lasted for the better part of two seconds before they saw the death stare in Michael's eyes.

"H-hey, man, we were just kidding around," Kerry said.

Michael sensed that he was being a douche again. "No, guys," he said, immediately softening his expression. "Sorry. Got no sleep last night, you know?"

"Oh, okay," Kerry said, brightening. Ray looked at Michael and narrowed his eyes, inspecting his face.

After Kerry left to go check up on something about RvB, Ray sat up straight on the couch and turned to Michael.

"You all right, man?"

"I'm fucking_ fantastic_."

"Seriously, though, man, you look like something out of _The Walking Dead_."

"I don't know, Ray," Michael said, running a hand through his thick, curly hair. "I mean, how am I supposed to – you know—"

"Dude, just take it easy," Ray said, his voice oddly comforting. "Gavin will be back soon, okay? It's not like he hasn't left before."

"Yeah…you're right, Ray."

* * *

Michael rested his chin on his left hand while he lifelessly scrolled on the computer. He'd finished recording one video, but he was procrastinating on some of the other stuff he was supposed to be doing. He glanced to his right, wanting upon instinct to show Gavin something funny he'd found online, and maybe hear him laugh, but Gavin wasn't there. No one was, actually. Michael didn't like being alone in the Achievement Hunter office. It was weird, and it almost never happened.

He could hear Geoff and Caleb laughing loudly at something down the hall. Michael sighed. _Better to hang out with those guys than to stay here and be a fuckin' loner_. But he decided to check his Twitter one last time, and his heart dropped.

* * *

**Gavin Free** ( GavinFree)

Have to head to England for a couple weeks. It's gonna be top, but I'll miss everyone, especially my boi _**AH_Michael**_

* * *

Michael's heart fluttered. Fuck. Gavin had actually _tweeted_ about how much he was going to miss Michael. He quickly responded, trying to ignore his own trembling fingers.

* * *

**Michael Jones **( AH_Michael)

_** GavinFree**_ Just get back as soon as you can. Ain't nobody can break a Let's Play silence like you. YOU'RE MY BOI

* * *

Michael sighed as he realized he'd probably have to wait a while before Gavin could actually respond, but was surprised to see that he had only posted the tweet a couple minutes before Michael had gotten online. His heart nearly jumped into his throat when Gavin tweeted him back.

* * *

**Gavin Free **( GavinFree)

_** AH_Michael **_Are you saying you'll miss me too?

* * *

**Michael Jones **( AH_Michael)

_** GavinFree**_ All I'm saying is that the other half of this couch is kinda empty without you here. #mavin

* * *

Gavin didn't respond after that, which was all right. Michael could always just…_tell_ when his conversations with Gavin were over. Which was a useful skill to have. But he couldn't pry himself away from the computer now, not while knowing there was even a slight possibility that Gavin could be online and would tweet him back. Gavin didn't, of course. But the other employees of Rooster Teeth found the boyfriends' tweets in a matter of a half an hour, and when they did, they blew it up.

* * *

**Geoff Ramsey **( GeoffLRamsey)

_** GavinFree AH_Michael **_You guys are just melting my heart. Come back soon my #minceylittlebrit

* * *

**Barbara Dunkelman **( BlawnDee)

_** GavinFree AH_Michael **_I favorited that so hard.

* * *

**Jordan Cwierz **( JayOrDan23)

_** GavinFree AH_Michael **_Gavin, you piece of shit. You told me I was the only one. #brotrayed

* * *

**Lindsay Tuggey **( LindsayTuggey)

_** AH_Michael GavinFree **_Just so you guys know, we've gotten several reports of fangirls screaming so loud they choked on their own blood. #fuckyeahmichaelgavin

* * *

**Gustavo Sorola** ( sorola)

_** GavinFree AH_Michael **_Maybe you idiots didn't get the memo, but you shouldn't fucking date your coworkers #page3article1 #bitches

* * *

**Ray Narvaez, Jr **( AH_BrownMan)

_** GavinFree AH_Michael **_gaaaaaaaaay

* * *

**Caleb Denecour **( calebdenecour)

_** GavinFree AH_Michael JayOrDan23 **_Gavin's making his way around the office, if you know what I mean

* * *

**Ryan Haywood **( ryanhaywood)

_** GavinFree AH_Michael **_So many people are typing in all caps at the same time right now that all the world's servers will crash. #mavinapocalypse

* * *

**Jack Pattillo **( jack_p)

_** GavinFree AH_Michael**_ Guys, stop. Think of tumblr. #carelesspda

* * *

Michael couldn't help laughing his ass off at the tweets. It made him feel a little better, if only a little, that Gavin would have a difficult-assed time with his Twitter blowing up like this. He couldn't wait until the fucking idiot got home so he could tell him how much he liked to kiss and touch and be around him in person without having to censor himself for the Internet.

But making fangirls choke on their own blood was okay too.

* * *

Even after the Twitter ordeal, Michael had a hard time dealing with Gavin being gone. The guy didn't use his Twitter terribly often, and it was hard getting ahold of him to text. Probably because he was spending time with his _relatives_. Ugh. Michael had never hated Gavin's absences so much. He'd always been sad when Gavvers had to leave somewhere for a while, but he'd never felt fucking _empty_ without the guy around.

Michael stared at his wallet. Almost on instinct, he thought:

_I'd give it all just to have Gavin here with me_.

* * *

Michael's mood improved slightly over the days when Gavin wasn't there, like he was getting used to him not being there or something. He still missed him day after day, but at least he got to talk to him on the phone sometimes, although his British accent was stronger than ever and Michael couldn't understand a fucking word most of the time. But every conversation, before Gavin hung up, he'd whisper into the receiver, "You're top," and Michael's heart would thud, and something else would thud, and he'd whisper back: "You're toppier," before hanging up abruptly. He always made sure to hang up before Gavin could. It was just one of the ways he flirted. And it clearly drove Gavin crazy, because he usually called immediately after Michael did it. Which is maybe one of the reasons he did it.

But finally, after an excruciating week of quiet Let's Plays, particularly fiery Rage Quits, Gavin-is-gone jokes, and Ray's smirks, the day had arrived.

Sunday. Gavin was coming back today. It had been two weeks. Michael had no fucking idea how he'd done it, but he had. And he couldn't have been more pleased with himself.

He knew he couldn't actually go to pick Gavin up from the airport. Geoff might start to get suspicious. And it was damn hard not offering, too. He wished he hadn't thrown his phone across the room. But it was one of the precautions. He knew that if he was anywhere near that phone, his first instinct would be to call Geoff and demand to come along to greet the Brit at customs. But he knew he couldn't.

God damn, he had missed Gavin. He tried to keep a clear head, to keep paying attention to whatever show he was watching, but he couldn't sit still. It was like his chest was being compressed, and he'd only breathe okay once he saw Gavin. Was he worried or something? _What if something went wrong at the ai—_

_Holy shit, stop. Don't fucking think like that._ Michael realized that he'd just scared himself. _Gavin's fine, okay? He's fine, you stupid shit. He's fine. He's probably posted or something._

But Michael didn't check to see if he had posted. He was afraid he hadn't. And that he'd panic for no reason again.

And then Michael heard the voice of an angel. And it sounded a lot like his ringtone.

He ran towards his phone, picked it up, and hastily answered the call. "Gavin?!"

"_Mi-cool_!" Gavin nearly screeched. "Listen, I just got home. I'll unpack for a bit and then I'll be right over, all right? I'll tell Geoff I'm hanging out with you and Ray. Bye!"

"Wha—I—Gavin—how was your flight—" but Gavin had already hung up.

* * *

Michael was so excited for Gavin to come over that he could barely contain himself. He was pacing his apartment, eating cereal, playing a little bit of Sonic. It was like he kept having to find distractions so that he wouldn't think about the fact that _oh my fucking god Gavin is coming over holy shit._

After about 65 million years, the doorbell rang and immediately after, someone continuously knocked. Michael knew what he was doing was incredibly lame, but he ran to the door and threw it open. He probably should have waited at least a couple milliseconds before greeting Gavin, to maybe show that he had a little bit of a life, but he didn't even fucking care anymore.

And there he was. Cheeks rosy, a British-flag scarf around his neck, a Minecraft-themed shirt on his incredible torso, and a huge fucking smile stretching across his face. Michael pulled Gavin inside and wrapped himself around the Brit, hugging him so forcefully he almost fell backwards. He inhaled the scent of Gavin, which was hidden somewhere in the musk of the airport smell, but still there. He loved Gavin's cologne.

Gavin didn't say anything when Michael pulled away; he just smiled and held up one of Michael's hands, and then put something blue and plastic in it.

Michael inspected the object with a raised eyebrow. It was a knickknack from Britain, but Michael couldn't figure out – or remember – what it was supposed to be.

"What the fuck is this?" he said instantly.

"Don't you like it?" Gavin insisted. "It's a TARDIS! From Doctor Who? His police box. I got you one from a gift shop. It cost me about £20, but I thought of you when I got it and—"

"I—I love it, Gavin," Michael said honestly. He _did_ love it. Maybe he wasn't all that into Gavin's shows, but the fact that Gavin had seen something in a store that cost twenty dollars or whatever the fuck a pound was, and thought of Michael, and bought it for Michael, was a bit too much to handle. He carefully put it on the counter, then looked at Gavin.

His Gavin. His wonderful, amazing, _here_ Gavin. Now that his boyfriend was here again, he had no idea how he had survived without him. _Don't know what you've got till it's gone, I guess._

He couldn't resist himself anymore. He took Gavin's shoulders, and pulled him in for a soft, sweet kiss. He'd waited so long to feel Gavin's lips on his.

"Mmm," Gavin murmured, putting his hands on Michael's shoulders as Michael's own hands slid down to rest of Gavin's waist.

Michael pulled back for a second, and had to blink a couple times before his eyes readjusted. Gavin's perfect face smiled back at him.

"Please don't leave ever again," Michael slurred. "Idiot."

Gavin smiled softly. "I'm not planning on it," he said, then leaned forward again to press his lips against Michael's.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Everyone suffers when Gavin leaves, but no one suffers more than Michael I bet.

Thank you for reading! Consider leaving a review while you're at it. They make me so happy, and it makes me happy that you're happy. Or sad. Or confused. I don't know you or your emotions. Which is why you really should leave a review.

Write you soon! Have a great weekend uwu


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Gavin was back. He was fucking _back_, and Michael could not have been happier. Michael spent all day Sunday, the day Gavin got back, hanging out with him and making out with him and touching his hair dreamily. He couldn't believe he'd lived without him for more than two seconds. His sexy fucking British accent was even thicker, which was a huge plus. And Michael kept looking over at the TARDIS, sitting on the kitchen counter, and smiling. He couldn't believe Gavin had gotten him such a stupid goddamn knickknack. It was the nicest thing.

Michael had a hard time letting Gavin go back to Geoff's house. He wondered if he should ask Gavin to stay the night, but once he tried to speak, his voice faltered. Gavin had raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"I was just…I'm wonder…I mean…I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

Gavin beamed widely, then wrapped his arms affectionately around Michael. "See you tomorrow, Michael."

All too soon, his British idiot was gone again.

Michael flushed as he closed the door and realized his face felt extremely hot. Why couldn't he have asked Gavin to stay the night? Was it…too soon? Was he worried that Gavin might have taken offense at his straightforward manner? Or was he simply embarrassed by the idea of him…and Gavin…alone in an apartment…_together_?

Michael flushed even hotter and went to go take a shower.

* * *

The next day, Michael got to the Rooster Teeth office before Gavin and Geoff, so he hung around, whistling and pleasant as all fuck. Kara seemed substantially happier now that Michael was in a better mood, and Michael was only in a good mood because Gavin was back. Everyone was always saddened when Gavin left the office, but during the two weeks he was gone, everyone went through some fucking "Dark Ages" or something, especially Michael. Employees and employers alike were all thrilled that Gavin was back.

Michael sat in the break room with Ray. He had a feeling Ray had something to tell him, just by his body language, but he couldn't say it because Jordan and Caleb were hanging out and laughing.

Michael made eye contact with Ray. Ray shifted his eyes towards Jordan and Caleb. Michael nodded, then said fairly loudly to Ray, "So I heard we've got another beeping UPS."

"Seriously?" Jordan asked, laughing as he remembered the tale of Joel and his everlasting, epic fights with technology.

"Yeah, man," Michael assured him. "I think Joel's trying to fuck with that thing now."

"Shit!" Caleb exclaimed, then dashed out of the room towards the computers. A delighted Jordan followed him.

"Nice," laughed Ray.

"Hey, man, it was nothing. Something to say?"

Ray sat up uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah, actually…listen, a couple weeks back, I was talking to the ladies and Kerry, and I think…I think they might, you know…"

Michael froze. "They know?"

"No, no, no. They don't know, they're just…listen, I think you guys should be a little more careful, okay? I mean, it's none of my business or anything I guess, but I just…"

Michael breathed deeply to try and bring down his heart rate.

"I know how well this has been going," Ray said quickly, as if he was embarrassed to say it. "I just want you fuckers to be happy, okay?"

Michael was truly touched that Ray would give him advice just so his relationship would last. It was just another reason it was awesome to have Ray in on the secret Michael/Gavin boyfriend fiasco. "Dude. Thanks."

Ray chuckled. "Yeah, no problem. Gotta protect my two favorite boys now that they're buncin' dicks, right?"

Michael willed himself not to blush, but failed. "Uh, y-yeah."

Ray narrowed his eyes at Michael's face, and was about to say something when Jordan and Caleb burst back into the break room, laughing their asses off.

"Turns out – the UPS wasn't – beeping—" Caleb said, gasping for air.

Michael delighted to change the subject, looked up at his coworkers with delight. "What happened, then?"

"I don't know what the fuck Joel did," Jordan said, composing himself long before Caleb did, who was laughing uncontrollably still, "But he fucking _lost_ Gus' mouse. He doesn't know where the fuck it is. He was using Gus' computer for some reason and he literally _lost the mouse_."

Michael and Ray burst into laughter. At least now everyone's face was red, instead of just Michael's.

* * *

Michael smiled, licking a bit of his ice cream as he listened to Gavin's story. As a precaution, they'd waited a long four days to hang out at the mall with each other. It was torture, but at least they got this short time together. And they were alone – no one in the Rooster Teeth office had joined them to go to the mall.

"—So then he says, 'Now? But it's only 7 bong, mate!'"

"Ho-o-oly shit," Michael cooed, laughing into his ice cream. "I literally do not understand the joke. I didn't understand your fucking story at all."

Gavin furrowed his brow, as if his little British brain was trying to process how someone could possibly not understand his stupid story.

From across the table, Michael playfully punched Gavin's shoulder. "I was only kidding, fucknuts. Tell it again."

Gavin looked down at his own ice cream and smiled, picking up a spoon and digging into the ice cream with zeal. "Whatever, you douche," he said, blushing a deep shade of red. Michael lived off that shade of red on Gavin's face.

The hairs on his arm raised as Gavin's free hand rested on Michael's. Michael suddenly remembered what Ray had said, then cleared his throat and painfully ripped his hand out from under Gavin's.

"Uh," he stammered, trying to find a topic change. He tried to ignore the look of slight confusion on Gavin's face as he glanced at his own hand, and then at Michael's, and then up into Michael's brown eyes. "So, when's the movie start, Gav?"

"Ten minutes," Gavin said, still a bit confused as to why Michael had taken his hand away. He brightened a little, though. "I can't wait. A superhero movie that's actually 'sposed to be _good_."

Michael smiled at Gavin, almost entranced by the way Gavin's mouth caressed the plastic ice cream spoon. "Yeah. That last one was bollocks, wasn't it?"

"Total bollocks," Gavin agreed.

When Gavin finished his ice cream and threw it away, and they started heading towards the movie theatre, Gavin's hand brushed against Michael's. Michael felt an unbearable warmth creeping up his neck. It was obvious Gavin wanted them to hold hands. But Michael knew that he wasn't supposed to do that. What would happen if he saw someone from Rooster Teeth? What would happen if someone from Rooster Teeth saw _them_? Or what if a homophobic asshole came up to them and started shit? Michael was certain he could fend for himself. But he didn't want Gavin to be hurt, by any means.

So he stuffed his hands in his sweatshirt pocket, took one look at Gavin's face, and realized he had hurt Gavin anyway.

* * *

When the movie ended, Michael and Gavin headed back to Michael's apartment, talking and laughing about the movie, but something was different. It was exceedingly obvious to Michael that Gavin was upset – probably with him. And that broke his heart.

Once they got into the apartment, Michael put his keys down on the counter and then leaned against it, watching Gavin close the door and then silently shuffle to the couch, where he sat down and then turned and smiled at Michael. But it wasn't a normal smile – it was sad, somehow.

"Uh, so, you hungry? I know we just had popcorn, but…" Michael offered halfheartedly.

Gavin's smile fell slowly as he shook his head. He looked down at his hands, which were playing with the couch cushions. Gavin always did that, but now Michael felt like it was to avoid looking at him.

Michael sighed. "All right, Gavin, what is it?" he asked.

Gavin shook his head.

"Don't bullshit me," Michael demanded. "You can tell me, okay?"

Gavin shrugged. "I just…I don't know, I guess I'm just wondering why…" Gavin cut off, flushing.

Michael softened. "Why what, Gav?"

"Why don't you ever…you know, when we're at the mall and stuff…why don't you ever hold my hand or hug me like you do when we're here?"

Michael sighed. He knew this was coming. He hated hurting Gavin's feelings like this. He knew he had to make him feel better. "It's just…you know, we can't really be seen together, y'know?"

Gavin looked up, his face hardening, and Michael realized he'd made a horrible mistake. He immediately tried to save himself. "Shit! I mean, not like that, but…you…you know what I mean, right?"

"But none of the others were at the mall," Gavin said. "I know we're supposed to hide it from _them_, obviously, but they weren't around."

"It's just, you know," Michael stammered, thinking hard. He didn't want to make things even worse or hurt Gavin's feelings. The boy was the fucking _world_ to him, after all. "I just…I don't think it's a good idea."

Gavin didn't stop looking at Michael. "Why, because other people might see? What does it matter? Why do you care?"

"Because, I—" Michael searched for the right words to express his thoughts, but everything was a jumbled mess. All he could think was, _don't offend Gavin. Don't offend Gavin_.

"Are you—" Gavin began softly. "Are you…ashamed of me?"

Michael felt his heart drop to his knees. "Gavin, how could you even fucking _say_ something like that? Just because I don't wanna hold hands in public doesn't—" Michael immediately stopped himself. He sounded like a dick, even to _himself_.

Michael would have sold his soul to never see the look Gavin currently had on his face, ever again. Gavin sighed and stood up. "Whatever, Michael."

"Gavin, _wait_. Don't go, okay? Just please…please don't go."

But Gavin walked out the door without another word, running a hand through his hair and inhaling deeply through his nose. And for the second time ever, Michael had fucked up.

Michael felt like something was constricting his chest. He had to get Gavin to come back. He had to. But he knew it was no use trying to reason with Gavin now. And he could hear him running down the hall towards the elevator already. Gavin was faster than him. He'd never catch him.

Michael tried to breathe, but couldn't. He tried to think clearly, but all he could see was Gavin's face behind blurred vision. He ran a hand through his own hair and couldn't help but imagine someone else's hair he'd much rather be touching. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid. He should've just fucking held hands with Gavin. And now Gavin was upset. Upset with him. Michael felt like throwing himself off a cliff.

Michael blinked, and his slightly-open door came into blurry view. The door Gavin had just walked out of.

No matter what, he wasn't going to let him walk out that door angry with him again.

No matter what, he was going to make it up to Gavin.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Thanks so much for reading and enjoying, and a HUGE thank you if you leave reviews or favorites! It means so much you have no idea.

Have a wonderful week, everyone! Write you soon!


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Michael walked uncomfortably into the office the next day at work. He felt like shit. He knew he'd fucked up with Gavin, and the only person who could possibly make him feel better about the whole situation was Ray. Good ol' Ray. He'd have some wisdom beyond his years to share.

"You fucking idiot," Ray exclaimed immediately from his desk in the Achievement Hunter office. "What the hell did you do, fuckbrains?"

Michael flushed. "Oh, I only told him I was embarrassed to be seen in public with him, I didn't want anyone to know we're dating, even people who don't work here at RT, and that we can only hold hands and touch and stuff in the apartment."

For once, Ray didn't have a witty remark. He only stared at Michael in bewilderment. One look at his face made Michael groan loudly and fall back on the couch.

"Seriously, Ray, I mean," Michael said, his words muffled through hands at covered his face. "How in the fuck could I _say_ something like that to him? Why would I _do_ this? He's my entire world."

"What did Gavin do?" Ray asked, running a hand exasperatedly through his dark black hair.

"He ran out of my fucking apartment. What do you think he did? Would _you_ stay in the same goddamn building as me? Why would I do this, man?"

Ray was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "Listen, you idiot. You and Gavin have got probably the most amazing relationship I've seen in a long time."

Michael took his hands away from his face. "Really?"

Ray nodded. "Of course," he said. "Even if you guys hadn't – you know – started going out, you have one of the best friendships I've ever seen. You guys took a liking to each other since you met, and you've been inseparable ever since. So I don't think this is going to be the one to ruin you guys."

"Assuming there will be one that ruins us?"

"Maybe," Ray said, hints of exasperation in his voice. "If you don't get up off your lazy ass and apologize right the fuck now."

Michael jumped to his feet. "Gavin here yet?"

Ray glanced at the clock. "Assuming he doesn't skip out today because – let's face it, you were an asshole – he should be getting here in a few minutes." Michael rushed out of the office. He wasn't going to let Gavin slip away from him because he'd decided to be an insensitive douche.

Sure enough, Gavin and Geoff were walking up to the Rooster Teeth building when Michael got to the lobby. Gavin would have appeared content to anyone who'd glance at him briefly, but Michael knew the look on Gavin's face all too well. It was like he was nervous about something, and upset at the same time. He looked sleep-deprived, and he wasn't walking with the usual spring in his step. Knowing that he had caused Gavin to be this way was worse than

being stabbed. It was worse than breaking all the bones in his body. It was like someone was clenching their fingers around his throat.

Gavin and Geoff walked in through the front doors, and Michael was there to greet them almost immediately.

"Oh, hey, Michael!" Geoff said in surprise. Geoff looked well-rested and happy, Gavin the opposite way around.

"Hey, Michael," Gavin said quietly. He met Michael's eyes for a moment, then looked down at his incredibly dorky shoes.

"Hey, guys," Michael said quickly. "Listen, Geoff, can I borrow Gav for just a sec?"

"Take him," Geoff said brightly. "Can you take Joel too, while you're at it? He's fuckin' up so much shit around here." Geoff walked off, muttering something about Gus' mouse.

Gavin turned to Michael. Michael had seen Gavin irritated before, and he'd seen him angry, too. But he didn't know how to describe Gavin's current facial expression. It was like a combination of the two, but with more…pain.

"What is it, Michael?" Gavin asked curtly. "I have to go reco—"

"Just c'mere." Michael grabbed Gavin's hand and pulled him into a small room adjacent to the lobby of the Rooster Teeth building that was empty of people for the moment.

Gavin walked in as Michael shut the door behind them. "What is it? You know, if someone finds us in here together, it won't be good."

"Just let me say something," Michael said. All he wanted was to hug Gavin, but he knew he shouldn't, since Gavin was probably not in a hugging kind of mood.

Gavin sighed through his nose and leaned against a table, crossing his arms.

"Listen, man," Michael said, willing his throat not to clench up. He had to tell Gavin. No matter what, he had to apologize. "I was a dick, okay? There's no excuse for that. And I am so, so sorry. I keep promising myself I'll never hurt you, and I keep doing it, because apparently I have no idea how to talk to you. I get so nervous when you're around, I just – I can't breathe."

Gavin slowly uncrossed his arms and his expression softened a little.

"And, I mean, yeah, you're right," Michael continued. His voice was cracking a little more than usual. "I shouldn't give a flaming fuck about what other people think. But I…listen, man, I've been called all sorts of things. People can say whatever they want about me. What do I care? But I will be god damned if the most important person in my life gets called a 'fag' because of me."

Gavin's mouth opened slightly, like he was going to say something, and then it closed again. He turned his gaze from Michael to a little replica of the Triforce, which was sitting on a bookshelf.

"I don't ever want to hurt you again, Gavin," Michael said with a deep sincerity. "Because I think it kills me even more than it kills you."

Gavin was quiet, like he was processing. Michael didn't know what to do. He'd gotten out his apology, but would Gavin forgive him?

"That was…that was all I wanted to say," Michael said faintly, all the while wondering if he had blown it for good. "I'm…I'm sorry, Gavin. You're…everything to me. I'm sorry."

Gavin looked down at the floor, and ever so slowly, the corners of his lips turned up into a faint smile. He looked up with his murky, blue-green eyes into Michael's deep, pretty brown ones. He pushed off the table slowly, took a few steps towards Michael, and then hugged him.

Michael felt his heart beating faster just having Gavin this close to him. He put one hand on Gavin's back, taking a handful of his shirt – he never thought he'd love that feeling so much since the night Gav got mugged – and put the other hand in Gavin's tousled hair. Michael blushed a deep red. "S-so, you, um…you forgive me?"

Gavin pulled away. "You're right, Michael. I'm sorry."

"I'm – you – _what_?"

Gavin shrugged. "I think it's probably for the best if we don't do boyfriend stuff in public. I mean, someone we know might see us. You're right."

"I'm right?"

Gavin shrugged sheepishly. "I'm okay with hiding it for a little longer. Plus, I really like being your boyfriend. I get to snog you all I want."

"I – I – yeah, I like being your boyfriend, too," Michael stammered. The smell of Gavin's delicious cologne was making his head spin, and even though Gavin had been sleep-deprived and pissy, he looked as good as ever.

Michael put his hands on Gavin's waist and pulled him in for a kiss, which Gavin happily accepted. Michael was overflowing with giddiness; not only had he apologized to Gavin, he'd been forgiven. He didn't even care that he was right. All he cared about was that he had Gavin to smooch all day long if he fucking wanted to.

And just then, the door opened.

* * *

Michael and Gavin practically threw themselves to opposite sides of the room the second they heard the hand on the doorknob. Caleb walked in to see a very messy-haired pair of grown men, both red in the face and a little out of breath.

"Hey, guys," Caleb said, raising an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

Michael said "Nothing" at the same time that Gavin said "Just talking."

Caleb nodded. "Oh. Well, are you guys going to record the Let's Play soon? You've got a lot of stuff to do."

Michael looked over at Gavin. Gavin swallowed. "Y-y-yeah…um, yeah! C'mon, dude, let's go."

"Right," Gavin said, then clumsily followed Michael out of the room, both of their breathing a little heavier than usual.

_Weird_, thought Caleb. For a second, a fleeting thought passed through his mind, but he shrugged it off and went to go find the papers he needed.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I'm sorry. One week is far too long. But everything seems resolved, at least for now! Except the other members of RT. Gotta watch out for them, right?

Huge thanks if you subscribe to this story or leave a review! Literally any feedback I just sit there and smile at, so if you decide to leave one, just know that I will be forever grateful :)

AND ALSO WOW THANKS GUYS FOR A LITTLE OVER 3 THOUSAND VIEWS ON THIS FIC WOW THAT IS A THING JUST WHOA THANK YOU THANKY UO THANKY OU THANKTYOU

Sorry. I just flipped out a little but oHMYGOD

Anyways, I'll update again soon! Thanks again! (three sthou sand views whoa my goodnessnens)


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Dude," hissed Michael under his breath as he and Gavin speedwalked away from the room, "We have got to be more careful."

"I told you someone might come in!"

"Do you think he knew?"

"I dunno."

Michael and Gavin reached the break room, which was abandoned except for Ray, who was going through his phone, laying down on the couch and ignoring the boys.

Gavin looked around before speaking, his words coming out in quick, breathy sentences. "I think we got out of the way just in time. Bollocks. I'm dizzy."

"Me, too," agreed Michael. "We should probably lay really low from now on."

Once the initial shock of the situation had passed, and Michael and Gavin had avoided panic attacks, they slowly looked up at each other and burst out in laughter.

"Can you imagine if he had _seen us_?" Michael screeched, giggling. "Oh, god. It'd be _awful_."

"I know!" agreed Gavin.

Ray looked up from his phone, the squeaky laughs having revived him from his trance. "You idiots all right?"

"Caleb walked in on us," Michael giggled.

"Gettin' nasty at the office, are we?" Ray said mischievously, raising his eyebrows at the couple.

Michael went from blushing out of laughter to blushing out of embarrassment. "We were just kissing," he muttered. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as Gavin's hand brushed his.

"I gotta go record," Gavin said softly, his face a deep shade of red as well. He leaned in and gave Michael a brief, soft kiss on the lips that left Michael gasping for air once Gavin was out of the room.

Michael watched Gavin leave, wanting only to catch up to him and kiss him again. He realized he'd been staring at empty space for a long while before he turned back to Ray, who was smiling his head off.

"What is it?" Michael snapped, more embarrassed than ever.

"Dude, you are infatuated."

Michael was about to deny it, but he really didn't have the energy to be telling lies. Besides, Ray could always figure out if someone was lying around the office, especially Michael. "Well…can you blame me?"

Ray chuckled and shook his head, looking down at his phone once more. "Gav's a great dude. You're really lucky to be in that kind of relationship with him."

"I know, man, I know. He just makes me…really, really happy."

"So, how'd he take the apology?"

Michael cocked his head and went to go sit down on one of the couches adjacent to Ray's. "Really well. I think I kind of knew what to say to him, because he forgave me right away."

Ray chuckled. "I swear to god, if you hurt him again, I just might hate you."

Michael smiled and looked down at the floor. "Not as much as I'd hate myself."

* * *

There was a period of pure torture in which Michael and Gavin couldn't hang out. Ray sensed that people around the office might be getting suspicious of Michael and Gavin, and coupled with the Caleb thing, it made it nearly impossible to get any alone time with Gavin, mention him, or even tweet him. It wasn't as if everyone in the office suddenly knew what was going on – they just watched a little bit more closely for the Mavin moments, which Michael and Gavin made no more prominent than usual. But still, not being able to flirt with Gavin in the Let's Plays, or have him flirt back, or even say his name, was awful. Michael craved Gavin's attention – having it was the only thing he'd ever need. It made Michael almost wish he hadn't kissed Gavin after he forgave him, that they'd been more careful. Almost. Gavin was a pretty goddamn good kisser.

It was Thursday, and the painstaking week was almost over. Gavin and Michael had found some alone time, given that everyone else had either gone home or was working or watching production of something. Michael leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes as he and Gavin kissed. Gavin was sitting peacefully in Michael's lap, one hand under Michael's chin and pulling him forward into the kisses, and the other rested on Michael's chest, feeling his sped-up heartbeat, imagining that his own heart was perfectly in sync with Michael's. The light from the setting sun lit up Gavin's spiky, messy hair, and the hum of the computers drowned out the sound of their lips moving together, rhythmically, like a single entity made of two.

Gavin said in-between kisses, his eyes closed, his words slurred as if he was drunk: "Maybe we should just tell them – so we can kiss – all the time."

Michael chuckled halfheartedly, but Gavin's statement, he quickly realized, had some validity to it. It wasn't as if they were going to be able to hide their relationship forever. But how were they going to tell the other employees? Hire a stripper to pop out of a cake, holding a huge sign: _Surprise, We're Dating! _Get a mariachi band? A telegram maybe.

How _were_ they supposed to break it to the entirety of RT? Maybe they'd do some kind of announcement in a video. But the other employees would be pissed if they found out through a video, and neither Michael nor Gavin told them in real life. Would they have to pull each one aside, and explain the situation to them, and hope for the best reaction?

"We – we should – should wait a while," sighed Michael into Gavin's mouth. Gavin made a murmur of agreement, and then they were kissing again, and they were the only ones in the world that mattered. The only thing on Michael's brain once again was Gavin's hand on his chest, and the only thing Gavin was thinking about was Michael's curly, red hair that bounced when he laughed. Everything was as it should have been.

Someone approached down the hallway. Sighing, but not out of pleasure this time, Gavin pulled himself away from Michael and went to go sit on the Achievement Hunter couch. He disappointedly traced circles on the Block of Pimps pillow as the footsteps got closer, and, eventually, the door opened.

"Hey, Gus," Michael greeted.

"Hey, guys," Gus said, although with a bit more irritation than usual in his voice. "God damn it. Have you seen my mouse anywhere?"

Michael earnestly looked around, but he couldn't see it anywhere. "No, sorry. I don't think Joel left it in here."

Gus sighed with frustration. "Fuckin' Joel," he muttered, then walked out of the room. Michael and Gavin looked at each other, and chuckled softly, but they each knew what the other was thinking.

_Just get over here and kiss me again._

* * *

"Dude," Geoff said, looking disappointedly at Gavin, who was currently in a state of being a 'hot mess,' curled up on the couch. "You look so bored."

"I _am_ bored," Gavin droned. Ever since he and Michael had taken a pledge to hang out less often to throw everyone off, he'd had nothing to do. He wanted to be with Michael, but he couldn't, and it was killing him inside.

"Why don't you get out of this house?" Geoff suggested. "I can't live with you when you're like this, man."

Gavin pretended to cry. "I have no one," he complained.

"Why not, uh, Michael? You guys have been hanging out a lot. Lord knows he doesn't have a life. Why don't you go out with him?"

Before Gavin could realize his mistake, he had said: "I'm not!" When Geoff raised his eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something, Gavin quickly added, "Not in the mood to hang out with him."

"You and Michael fighting or something?" Geoff chuckled. "Was he less than satisfied in the bedroom?"

"Shut up," Gavin said, trying his best to conceal his blush.

"Call him," Geoff said with finality, then left the room to go cook something.

Gavin sighed. Was it all right to hang out with Michael if Geoff himself had suggested it? Geoff wouldn't be suspicious about that, would he? Gavin reached for his phone, greedy for a chance to talk to Michael. He texted him faster than the speed of light, and was both surprised and overjoyed when Michael texted him back just as quickly.

* * *

**Me:**

Hang out today? :)

**Michael:**

Thought you'd never ask. Mall?

**Me:**

That'd be top.

**Michael:**

;)

* * *

Michael and Gavin laughed and smiled as they waited in the line to buy some ice cream. Michael was especially glad there was no leftover awkwardness from their big stupid fight about holding hands in public. He wished he could hold his boyfriend's hand anywhere he wanted, but that simply wasn't the case, at least not until the rest of Rooster Teeth found out. Besides, he and Gavin got plenty of time to hold hands in Michael's apartment, when they weren't watching movies, or playing video games, or kissing, which they did far more often than anyone else. The impulses to touch Gavin affectionately were killer, though.

The boyfriends were the last ones in line, but after what seemed like a million years of patient waiting (and a little bit of hushed cussing from Michael), they got up to the register. Michael quickly ordered his ice cream, having been craving an ice cream cone for the entire day. The fact that Gavin was with him made it even better. Michael was reaching into his pocket for his wallet as he heard Gavin order his ice cream, but there was something wrong. His voice was shaky, and uneven, and he was speaking quickly, as if he was in a hurry.

Michael looked up and realized Gavin's face was a ghastly pale color. Gavin swallowed hard.

"Gav? What's wrong?" questioned Michael cautiously.

"N-nothing," Gavin said. After a second, he added, "Let's just go, Michael. Let's just get out of here."

"We already ordered," Michael protested. "She's getting our ice cream now. What's the matter?"

"It's nothing – nothing," Gavin insisted, but his eyes shifted uncomfortably to something behind Michael.

"What? What?" Michael turned around. The only people behind him were a middle-aged guy ordering a sandwich from the stand next to the ice cream place, and another, younger guy, waiting in line behind him. Neither of them looked fami—

_Wait._

Michael felt a wave of emotions hit him as he realized who the younger guy was. He'd only caught a glimpse of him before, but he was sure it was the same guy. Michael felt his blood boil. His thoughts blurred and he felt the all-too-familiar onslaught of an emotion best described as 'unbridled rage.'

The guy who'd held a knife to Gavin's throat that night was less than twenty feet away from Michael. Defenseless.

Gavin put a hand on Michael's shoulder, pulling Michael back and clearing his head from the pit of rage he was on the verge of. "Michael, please," Gavin said pleadingly, looking into Michael's eyes. "Please, please don't make a scene. Let's just go."

Michael bit the inside of his cheek so hard it bled. He didn't want to disappoint Gavin by calling the guy out in the middle of everything and make a scene, but he wanted to rip out some _fucking throats_.

"All right," Michael said shakily. "Let's get our goddamn ice cream and go."

Michael turned around to look at Gavin's attacker once more. He'd already gotten his sandwich and was making his way to a table, to sit down and eat.

Gavin sighed, as if with relief. He was probably afraid the thug would hurt him if Michael did something. As if Michael was ever going to let this guy near Gavin again.

All the while trying not to go Super Saiyan or something, Michael got his and Gavin's ice cream cones, then sat at a table where he made sure the guy was always in sight. Gavin sat across from him, and probably had no idea Michael was still watching the dude. Michael didn't care about making a scene anymore. If you mess with Gavin when Michael is around, you're deader than dead. This asshole was not going to be the exception.

Eventually, the guy finished his sandwich, threw away the wrapper, and Michael thought he was going to leave, until he swerved into the bathroom. Michael inhaled deeply. "I'll be right back. Wait here for me?"

Gavin looked suspicious for a moment, but he nodded slightly. Michael stood up and walked, as calmly as he could, in the direction of the men's bathroom.

_I'm coming for you, fucker. _

Michael walked into the bathroom after what seemed like years of trying to control his breathing pattern, and to not look like someone who was about to commit a homicide. The bathroom was empty except for Michael and the asshole, who had finished washing and drying his hands and was about to walk out.

"Hey, man," Michael greeted, putting on a fake smile. Michael was right in front of the opening, and it sent out a clear signal: You are not leaving, buddy.

The guy looked up at Michael, then squinted his eyes, as if he remembered him from somewhere, but couldn't put his finger on it. "Uh, hey," he said, in the same gruff voice that Michael had heard over the phone. God, Michael had never wanted to rip someone's head off so badly.

"So, listen," Michael said, still smiling menacingly the way they did it in Jersey. He stepped a little closer.

The guy, very confused and a little intimidated by the look in Michael's eye, stepped back a little bit. "What's—?"

"You held a knife to my boyfriend's throat." Michael's smile was gone now, and all that was left was a cold, lifeless, _angry_ stare.

The dude's eyes widened, and then he took a step back. "_Shit_!" he hissed.

Michael took one more step towards the guy, cracking his knuckles. "You and I need to have a little talk."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Don't threaten Gavin when Mikey is around. He'll punch your face in.

(Sorry for the really late chapter. Long weekend this week, though, so I'll get to writing! Only, of course, if you get to reading, though. Thanks for reading and enjoying! Feel free to leave a review. I kind of adore them.)


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"Hey, listen, man," the guy stammered, holding out a hand as if to say, _calm down_.

Michael gritted his teeth. "It's too late for that." He took a couple more steps forward. The guy tried to take a few more steps back, away from Michael, but his back hit the wall. "You shouldn't have threatened him when I was in the same country."

"Take it easy!" the gruff voice urged. "We didn't hurt him, man! We just wanted his walle—" Before he could finish, Michael threw a punch. Michael had been angry before, but this was next-level rage. He was going to Fus Ro Dah this motherfucker right out of the solar system. His fist connected squarely with the guy's face, sending him reeling off to the left, throwing his arms out for balance. He sputtered, and Michael saw that his lip was bleeding. It was a punch Ray would be proud of.

The guy composed himself quickly, and tried to hit Michael back with a right hook, but Michael grabbed his arm, twisted it, and pushed the guy up against the wall. His heart thudded in his chest, looking at the face of the guy who'd tried to hurt Gavin. His Gavin. His wonderful, beautiful Gavin, and goddamn if he wasn't going to get revenge.

"The fuck is wrong with you, man?!" the thug tried to shout, but his voice faltered in the middle of his sentence because slammed him against the wall, with more intensity.

"You don't fuck with Gavin," Michael said, and his raspy voice, which usually communicated giggles and squeaks, now held nothing more than malice and Jersey and just _rage_, unbridled rage. "Because then you're fucking with me."

"I'm – I'm—" He was going to say 'I'm sorry,' but Michael didn't fucking want to hear it. He wasn't going to let him apologize, because apologies were not going to be enough. But, then again, nothing would ever be enough, would it? Nothing would ever amount to how much Michael cared about Gavin, how much Gavin meant to him. How much…

Michael slammed the thug against the wall one more time, and twisted his arm even harder. The guy winced in pain, but he didn't cry out. He'd learned better than that.

"Get – the _fuck_ – out – of here," Michael hissed. He loosened his grip slightly. The guy only nodded, apparently unable to speak.

All at once, Michael let him go completely and took a couple steps back. "Get the fuck away from me," he said with finality, and for a second Michael thought the guy might be stupid enough to stay and clock Michael in the jaw, but he must not have been _that_ stupid. He stared at Michael for a fleeting moment, with an expression that Michael didn't know the name for, and he made his getaway. It reminded Michael of that night, when Michael's headlights had blared into the two guys' faces, and into the face of his best friend, and they'd run and disappeared, just like that.

Michael washed his hands before exiting the bathroom himself. When he got out, he didn't see the guy anywhere. Probably went home to go cry. Gavin was standing, his hands folded behind his back, in the distance, looking around the mall curiously. He saw Michael get out of the bathroom and smiled widely, making Michael think maybe he didn't suspect anything.

When Michael reached him, he said, "I'm not an idiot, you know."

"Huh?"

"The guy who threatened me. You beat him up in the bathroom, didn't you?"

Michael stammered. "I, uh."

Gavin smiled and looked down at Michael's shirt, studying it intensely. Had they been alone, this would be the part when Gavin puts either hand on either one of Michael's shoulders, and presses their foreheads together. Michael felt a blush creeping up his neck just at the thought. "To be honest, I knew you would do that."

Michael sighed. "Gavin, I didn't want to make a scene, but I – I just—"

"—Have I ever told you how much I adore you?" Gavin said suddenly, looking back up into Michael's eyes. He wasn't smiling anymore, but he wasn't frowning. He was just looking, looking at Michael. Studying his features. His pretty, brown eyes. The curly red hair that framed his face. The one dimple in his cheek. His soft, pink lips.

God, Gavin was a sexual creature. "Y-you could stand to say it more often," Michael said, trying to sound confident, but his voice coming out in waves. Gavin could do this to him all the time. He wondered if Gavin ever felt this way about _him_.

Gavin leaned ever so slightly forward. "Let's go home," he said softly.

* * *

Kara and Ray were hanging out in the Rooster Teeth break room. It was Friday, and most of everyone had gone home. Michael and Gavin had apparently gone to the mall. Ray was receiving regular updates from them as to what was happening. Apparently, Michael had beaten up some guy? Well, what else was new.

"So, Ray," Kara was saying. "Who are you texting?"

"Michael."

"What's he saying?"

"He's at the mall, with Gavin."

Kara sighed. "I wish I hung out with them more."

"Maybe you and I and 'mavin' can all hang out together one day," Ray suggested.

Kara seemed to brighten at the idea. "Yeah!" she said, then she giggled.

"What is it?" Ray asked, barely able to stifle his own laugh.

"'Mavin.'"

Ray knew he was crossing a dangerous street. "Yeah," he said cautiously. "'Michael and Gavin' has too many syllables."

"Do you think they're hanging out a lot lately?"

Ray's heart beat slightly faster, but it didn't thud, because he was Ray. "Uh, no."

Kara looked thoughtful. "They're always talking and laughing about what happens over the weekend. You know what Caleb did?"

_Yes_. "What'd Caleb do?"

"He walked into that office room, and saw Michael and Gavin in there. He said it looked like they had been making out or something." She laughed heartily.

Ray faked a laugh. "Let's be honest, though, Michael and Gavin probably do it nonstop when we're not around." Kara wouldn't suspect it if he was the one who suggested it, would she?

Kara laughed, but it wasn't as real as the one she'd just expressed moments before, and it died down much faster. She looked thoughtful again after that, but didn't say anything more.

Ray bit the inside of his cheek. Perhaps it would have been better if he'd kept his mouth shut. Kara probably didn't even suspect it until he'd just said it.

He turned his attention back to his phone and quickly texted Michael.

* * *

**Me:**

Red alert, man. Look out for Kara.

* * *

Michael kicked off his shoes and stretched out on his back, on the couch, sighing. Gavin sat at Michael's feet, watching the television and smiling as he pulled his knees up to his chest like he always did.

"You're really not mad at me?" Michael asked, wanting to make sure.

"Why would I be mad? I'm glad you did it." Gavin put a hand on his neck. "The guy threatened me with a bloody _knife_."

"You mean the knife was actually _bloody_, or the knife was infernal?"

Gavin smiled and hit Michael playfully in the leg. "Shut up, you know what I mean."

Michael laughed. "Yeah, yeah I do."

Gavin was quiet for a moment, turning his attention back to the television. Then, he turned to Michael. Michael sensed he wanted to say something. "What is it, Gav?"

Gavin hesitated for a moment, but then he crawled up, his hands and knees on either side of Michael's body, and kissed him softly on the lips. "Nothing," he said quietly. "Just thinkin' about you."

"Oh," Michael breathed. He was very, very aware of the fact that Gavin was on top of him. He swallowed. "Oh," he said again.

Gavin bit his lip, looking at Michael's own flushed, pink ones, He leaned forward slightly, hesitated, but then leaned in again, and they were kissing.

Michael's thoughts imploded into a wordless jumble. He felt the scruff on Gavin's face, the magnetic pull of his tongue on Michael's. Gavin used one hand to keep his balance, the other snaking its way under Michael's hat and into his hair, entangling itself in the fiery red curls.

Michael was already panting, and Gavin was, too. They pulled each other closer, feeling the rhythm of the kisses, the softness of each other's mouths, the comfort of each other's tongues between their lips. Gavin's heart raced when Michael's tongue glided over his teeth.

_Oh, my god, oh, my god, _Michael kept thinking. One of his hands reached up and rested on the back of Gavin's neck, gently pulling him forward. _Is it happening? Are we – are we – going to – oh, my god._

Gavin moaned into the kiss. I shit you not. He _moaned_. Michael felt his blood boil, his face turn red even though he wasn't embarrassed, and he couldn't help but let out a sound himself. With his other hand, he reached up and slid it up Gavin's torso, beneath his shirt, feeling the smoothness of Gavin's skin and the softness of his hair, and he panted even harder.

_We're going to. Oh, my god. Oh, my god._

And then Gavin's phone rang, in his pocket.

Gavin pulled away for a second, panting softly, his pupils dilated. Michael watched him, realizing he probably looked like that, too.

"That's Geoff's ringtone," Gavin said softly.

"Damn it," Michael said exasperatedly, although it probably didn't have the desired effect, since Michael's voice was all shaky.

Gavin picked up the phone. You don't ignore a call from Geoff. "Geoff." Gavin held the phone to one ear while he put the other ear to Michael's chest, listening to his heartbeat. Michael tried to keep his breathing quiet, but it was difficult, considering Gavin Free had just made out with him.

"What? Now?" Gavin said, using the hand that wasn't holding his phone to stroke Michael's hair. Michael felt his eyes roll back into his head, it felt so nice.

Gavin sighed. "All right, Geoff. I'll be there soon."

He hung up and looked at Michael.

"Let's Build?" Michael asked sullenly.

"Yeah. We're a bit behind on it."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, uh…I hope you have fun, you know…recording."

Gavin nodded slightly, then pulled himself up off the couch, picked up his British flag-themed shoes, and put them on. He stood up to leave. Michael sat up on the couch, his face feeling hot.

"I'll, uh—" Gavin began, biting his lip and looking anywhere but Michael. "I'll see you later."

"Okay," Michael agreed. "Text me when you get home."

Gavin nodded and smiled. He leaned forward to give Michael one last kiss, and then walked towards the door and walked out.

Michael looked at the door for a moment, groaned, and then fell back on the couch.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Just. Reached. 4. Thousand. Views.

Seriously, guys. Thank you so much. I adore this. I adore you. And huge thanks to everyone who's favorited or left a review! They really make my day.

Updates soon! Thanks again!


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Avoiding hanging out with Gavin after Friday was nearly unbearable, especially since Michael couldn't seem to function correctly after…_that_ kiss. All weekend, he chilled in his apartment and tried to relax, but every time he saw something that reminded him of Gavin (which was everything; he couldn't even sit on the couch without thinking of him), he blushed furiously. He couldn't stop pondering it, how Gavin had crawled up on top of him to kiss him, how Gavin had spoken so softly, the British accent rolling seductively off his tongue. Michael, when looking through his pantry for something to cook, thought once about his hand sliding up Gavin's stomach and touching his chest, and felt woozy.

And…if Gavin had stayed, if he hadn't had to go record a Let's Build with Geoff…would he and Michael have…? Would they have…done it?

Michael blushed so violently that his hands flew up to his cheeks, and then ran through his curls. Just the thought of doing that with Gavin made him so embarrassed and flustered he could hardly breathe.

It was a good-embarrassed, though.

* * *

Recording the Let's Plays the following Monday was awful, for obvious reasons. Having Gavin sitting not four feet away put Michael on edge, and he was blushing easily. He took the time to be thankful that not many people could see his reddened face, because they were all paying so close attention to their screens. He was really careful about what he said during that Let's Play; he didn't want to have a Freudian slip and accidentally reveal that all he had on his mind was doing the do with Gavin.

Gavvers seemed on edge, too. He wasn't interacting much with Michael during the Let's Play, and every time Michael threw a glance at him, Gavin smiled faintly and bowed his head to hide his blush.

Unfortunately, Michael had too many videos to record and not enough time to talk to Gavin, so he practically didn't see him the entire day. This was coupled with the fact that Gavin had to record a two-hour podcast. It was probably better that they didn't see each other that much, Michael admitted to himself. It wasn't that things were exactly _awkward_, but they were tense. Michael wasn't sure how to describe it. It wasn't a bad tension, either. Just…tension.

"Dude. What is the matter with you?" Ray asked as he and Michael stood in the kitchen and conversed.

Michael blinked. "Huh?"

Ray laughed. "Thinkin' about all the BJs you got last night?"

Michael's ears turned pink. "No! We didn't – I mean – we – uh."

Ray raised an eyebrow. "No need to get so flustered, dude, I was only teasing."

"Oh," said Michael, following Ray to go sit on the couches. "I – okay."

"You're a hot mess." Ray put his feet up on the couch he was sitting on, while Michael sat on the adjacent one. "Something wrong?"

"Well, I mean…no?"

Ray made a gesture, as if to say, _talk to me_.

"I don't know, man, I mean…on Friday, Gavin and I were – I mean, I thought we were going to…"

Ray's expression turned serious. "Oh. Well, what happened? Something went wrong?"

"No, he had to leave to record, but…it's so weird now. When we're in the same room, it's like, there's all this tension and stuff. Not awkward or anything, just weird."

"It's sexual tension."

"No shit."

Ray shrugged. "Well, do you want to?"

"Want to…what?"

Ray rolled his eyes. "_Do it with Gavin_, dipshit."

Michael's breath caught in his throat, and he nodded slightly until he was able to speak again. "I mean, yeah. Look at him."

"And does he want to?"

"I think so. He hasn't told me otherwise, and he's kind of been sending signals I guess."

"You should totally ask him, then."

Michael leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and interlacing his fingers in front of him. "You think?"

"Yeah, man. Listen, you shouldn't do it until you're sure he wants it, too. I think you should just ask him. Then the tension will probably go away."

"Oh," Michael said, leaning back. He guessed it wouldn't be that hard talking to Gavin about that. They'd known each other for a long time, even before they started dating. They knew each other. Nothing was awkward with Gavin around, since he was so honest all the time. Still, he was nervous.

Ray looked down at the floor for a while, as if contemplating something, then looked back up at Michael and said, "I'm really becoming your love doctor, aren't I?"

* * *

Finally. After a grueling days' wait. The recordings were done. The podcast was over. Gavin was free. And Michael was waiting for him in the hallway outside the set.

"Hi, Michael!" Gavin greeted, but he seemed different. He still wasn't himself. He seemed almost…nervous.

"Hey, Gavin. Listen, I've gotta talk to you."

"Oh," Gavin said, biting his lip. "Okay."

Michael led Gavin to the Achievement Hunters' office. The blinds were closed, but they were closed the wrong way so that the afternoon light still streamed through them, illuminating the bits of dust that swirled around.

"Actually," Gavin said quietly, "I have to talk to you, too, Michael. There's something I need to tell you."

Michael swallowed. "There is?" He was vaguely aware of a sound outside the office, like someone calling someone's name.

"Yeah," Gavin said. He stepped closer to Michael, and Michael felt his own breath sucked from his lungs from Gavin being so close to him. Michael looked down briefly at Gavin's hands, which were trembling slightly. Gavin _was_ nervous. But…why? What could he possibly have to tell Michael? Was he going to talk about the same thing Michael was going to talk about? Muffled behind closed doors and walls, the sound outside the office got a little louder.

"I, uh, I guess…" Gavin began, then took a shaky breath. "I haven't ever…I haven't ever told anyone this, but…but I think…I think I'll just say it."

"What is it, Gav?" asked Michael, vaguely alarmed. The sounds outside the office got even louder, and Michael was aware, on some level, that someone was calling Gavin's name. Gavin himself didn't seem to notice at all.

Gavin closed his eyes and shook his head once. "It's just that…okay, here goes. I'm just going to say it." Gavin took several deep breaths his eyes closed. He swallowed hard, opening his eyes once again, and then looked at Michael in his own pretty, brown eyes. "Michael. I'm…I'm i—"

The door burst open. "_There you are_!" Geoff exclaimed, smiling away. "Gavin, come with me. I need you to film something quick. It'll take, like, two seconds."

"_No_!" Michael nearly shouted. When Gavin and Geoff looked at him as if he'd grown a second head, he composed himself. "Gavin, what was the end to, uh…your story? I have to know."

"It's all right, Michael," Gavin reassured him. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

"But—"

"Come on come on come on!" Geoff urged. He grabbed Gavin by his shirt, and Michael's mouth gaped wide open as he watched him pull Gavin out the door, Geoff saying all the while, "Oh, man. This is going to be hilarious."

Michael stared at the door, which rested ajar, only one thing running through his mind:

_Gavin's what? Gavin's_ what_?_

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Poor Michael didn't even get a chance to tell Gavin how he was feeling. Anyways, next chapter coming up soon! I hate leaving you guys hanging for long :)


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**Ray:**

Dudedudedudedude.

Can I come over to your place?

**Me:**

Ray. I just got home. What the fuck do you want

**Ray:**

You know how Gavin was about to tell you something on Monday, and you never found out bc you guys couldn't hang all week?

**Me:**

Yeah, what about that

**Ray:**

I think I know what it was

* * *

A very flustered Ray stood in the doorway of Michael's apartment. It was a bit rainy outside, and droplets of drizzly water clung to his dark hair.

"What is it, Ray?"

He invited himself in, looking nervous and talking rapidly. "Man, I don't think you're gonna like this. I don't…I'm gonna read you the texts, all right?"

Michael got increasingly more nervous. The fact that he hadn't been able to learn what it was Gavin was going to tell him, what it was he had never told anyone ever, put him on the extreme edge. Gavin had been nervous when he was trying to say it. Now Ray was flustered, and not exactly nervous, but seeing Ray Fucking Narvaez Fucking Jr. flustered was _not_ a good sign.

All throughout the week, Michael had tried to get Gavin to spill his story, but with the increased suspicion and the fact that everyone and their mom worked at the office, it was hard to get alone time with him, and Gavin only wanted to tell him when they were alone. Michael's heart pounded. He was _dying_ to hear it. "Gavin's okay, right?"

"Yeah, man, he's – don't worry, he's completely fine, it's just – okay, maybe I shouldn't tell you this? Maybe I should just let him tell you – you know what, no, I _should_ tell you this – I just don't want you to – I'll read you the texts."

Leaning on the back of the couch, Ray pulled out his phone, frantically scrolling upwards through messages he'd exchanged with Gavin. He finally found what he was looking for.

"So I say, 'are you all right, man,' because he acted weird today like you did, and he goes 'it's nothing, I just need to tell Michael something,' and I go, 'can you tell me?' and he goes 'no, I want Michael to hear it first.'"

Michael held his arms out inquisitively, slightly irritated. "What, Ray, so you don't know?"

"Hold on, hold on!" Ray said, and then continued reading. "So I go, 'okay, so why didn't you tell him earlier,' and he goes 'well, I was going to tell him on Sunday night, because I thought that we were going to…you know,' and I go 'dude oh my god I am not a therapist keep this shit in the bedroom where it belongs,' and he goes 'sorry,' and puts a little smiley face, and then I go, 'well, why don't you tell him so you guys can just do it already,' and he goes 'I can't,' and before I can ask him to elaborate, he fucking texts me saying '_dinner is ready g2g_.'"

Michael honestly didn't know where Ray was going with this. "So? What's your point?" He wondered what Gavin could possibly want to tell him. Maybe Michael was being an idiot or something, but he had zero guesses as to what it could be.

"Don't you get it?" Ray demanded. "He was going to tell you something. It starts with an _i_, right? At least, that's what you think. He was really nervous to tell you, he hasn't told anyone else before, and he has to tell you before you two try and…you know."

Michael stared blankly at Ray.

Ray sighed in frustration. "What if Gav is…you know…_impotent_?"

Impotent. "So, he can't…uh…do the do?" Michael said slowly. He was a bit surprised by Ray's theory, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. What if it was true? It would certainly explain the urgent need Gavin felt to tell Michael. And Michael realized that it did sound as if Gavin was going to say something that sounded very similar to the word.

Ray looked at Michael, waiting for a reaction.

"Well…if it's true, that's too bad, but I don't care," Michael concluded.

Ray blinked. "You _what_?"

Michael shrugged nonchalantly, and then put his hands in the pockets of his Discord sweatshirt. "I mean, yeah, it would be awesome to get to be with Gavin that way. But if he really is impotent, that doesn't matter. He's still the most important thing in the world to me."

Ray looked astounded, as if he hadn't expected Michael to react this way. He held out a hand as if to say, _hold on a minute_. "So…let me get this straight…if it's true…you don't care _at all_."

Michael thought about it again, but he didn't need to. It's true that it would be awesome to get to have sex with Gavin Free. But why should he let that govern whether he was going to be with Gavin or not? If it was true, Gavin couldn't help it. And Michael cared about him too much to let something like this ruin them. He realized suddenly, and with great intensity, just how much Gavin meant to him.

"It doesn't matter," Michael repeated with finality, smiling faintly. "I care about Gavin more than I care about banging."

Ray looked as if he was trying not to cry. "Well, goddamn," he said softly, and then turned away from Michael. "That is the most romantic thing I've ever fucking heard."

* * *

Ray eventually left, and Michael decided to text Gavin that evening after picking up his phone and putting it down twice. He almost left a huge paragraph telling Gavin he cared about him no matter what, and that he was the most important thing in the world to Michael, and that nothing Gavin could say or do could change that, and all that stuff which was completely and utterly true, but sounded so fucking sappy that _reading it_ hurt. Finally, he settled on a short message that portrayed none of his actual emotions. He was Michael Jones. He didn't have emotions.

* * *

**Me:**

Gavin, wanna come over tomorrow?

**Gavin Free:**

Love to! How's 1:00 sound?

**Me:**

Great

**Me:**

Gavin?

**Gavin Free:**

Yes, Michael?

**Me:**

You're top.

* * *

Gavin walked into Michael's apartment, looking the way he had all week: a little worried, a hint of urgency. Michael swallowed hard, feeling a bit nervous himself. What if Gavin was going to say exactly what Ray thought? How should Michael respond? It still didn't matter to Michael, but he wasn't sure how to tell Gavin he didn't care without sounding like a douchebag. Gavin's fingers twiddled at his sides as he stood in his slightly-wet Creeper shirt, looking around Michael's apartment. Michael shut the door, hoping to look nonchalant, but was probably giving it away with his incessant playing at the flaps hanging from his Mogar hat.

"So, uh, you wanted to tell me something, Gav?" he tried to keep his voice level, his heart already beginning to beat faster, because he was nervous and he didn't know what to say and he was standing next to Gavin Free, also, who looked just…just…amazing today.

"Yes," Gavin sucked in a breath through his teeth, and then let out a long sigh through his nose. "I'm just glad I finally get to tell you."

"I'm glad I finally get to listen," Michael replied, and Gavin laughed nervously, which in turn, made Michael laugh nervously.

Gavin clapped his hands together and wrung them, not looking up at Michael. "I…don't know how you'll react to this," Gavin said uncertainly. His eyes were full of caution and wariness, and suddenly Michael felt overwhelmed by everything, the fact that Gavin would even _dare_ be nervous to tell Michael he was impotent, the way he wouldn't look into Michael's eyes, the wait Michael had to endure just to hear this, to hear the uncertainty in Gavin's voice. But he was especially overwhelmed by how much he cared about the person standing in front of him, how much he actually adored everything about him. How much…he…

"Gavin, wait," Michael said, holding up a hand. Gavin, looking surprised, closed his mouth, which had previously been opening slightly as if trying to find the words to tell Michael.

Michael took a deep breath, too, and then looked up into Gavin's eyes. God, they were green. Blue? Greenish-blue. Creepers, TARDIS. "Gavin, it's okay. I will always care about you, no matter what. I will never think any less of you no matter what you say. Hell, you could admit to murder and I would still sneak into prison with you."

Gavin laughed, a laugh that was still shaky, but a genuine one. "Okay."

"And," Michael continued, biting his cherub-esque bottom lip. "And…it's not the most important thing, okay? Sex is not the most important thing to me. It's _you_. You are."

Gavin straightened his spine and raised his eyebrows a bit. "Really?"

Michael laughed through his nose for a moment in disbelief. "Of course!"

Gavin seemed at a loss for words, but then he smiled that Gavin Free smile and Michael couldn't help but feel his heart flutter in his chest. Gavin took a few steps forwards and hugged Michael, wrapping his arms around him the way he did. At some point, they did a 360 and Michael was the one who was resting on the back of the couch.

When Gavin pulled away and took a few steps back, he was still smiling.

But Michael was a bit unsettled. He'd never actually heard it. "So, that's what you wanted to tell me, right? That you're impotent?"

Gavin smile fell and turned into a look of confusion. "What? I'm not impotent," he said simply, cocking his head slightly at Michael.

Michael, in stunned confusion, stared back at Gavin. "Well, then – then what were – what were you going to say, when you – what was – what?"

Gavin seemed thoughtful for a moment, then laughed again, another genuine laugh, and this time without nervous waves. "I wasn't going to say that!" he giggled.

"Well, then – what were – what—?"

"I'm not impotent." Gavin's smile fell into a look of seriousness. He stepped forward, and Michael felt his breath being knocked out of him yet again as Gavin leaned forward. Using one hand, he slowly (and seductively, fuck) took off Michael's hat as he kissed Michael's lips softly, the softest he'd ever kissed them. His left hand grazed Michael's right wrist, hovering teasingly over the skin, Gavin's warm, smooth fingers caressing Michael's skin into goosebumps. One hand still held onto the hat, and was resting on Michael's shoulder. Michael couldn't remember how or when, but his hands ended up on Gavin's waist, feeling the warmth of Gavin's hips through his jeans.

Gavin pulled away, sighing softly from the taste of Michael's mouth and from the heat of Michael's tongue on Gavin's and just the _feeling_ of kissing him. He opened his eyes slowly, looking deep into Michael's, and for a second it was just them in the world. His smooth, pink mouth opened slowly and finally, _finally_ sighed out the words:

"I'm in love with you, Michael."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Thanks for reading, sorry this is so late, and also, and as always, feel free to tell me what you think! I'll write you soon with a, um…particularly saucy chapter :)


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

"Holy shit," breathed Michael, his heart racing at a million miles an hour. Had Gavin really just told him _he was in love with him_? Holy shit.

Gavin shrugged sheepishly. "I'm sorry I never got a chance to tell you before," he said softly, almost embarrassed that Michael now knew. "But I needed to tell you in private. And I am, Michael Jones."

Holy shit. "I – I—" stammered Michael, unable to form words. It seemed almost too good to be true. He bit the inside of his cheek, hard, but he wasn't dreaming. It was real. It was real, and Gavin loved him, and nothing else in the world mattered but that.

Gavin was cocking his head slightly, waiting for a response, trying to hide the fact that his heart was beating almost as fast as Michael's. He'd been nervous as to how Michael would react. He'd been nervous that Michael might not love him back. Well, the joke was on him.

Michael spat out the words quickly, and with increasing zeal, as if he was just happy to finally realize he could say them. "I'm in love with you too, Gavin," he said, and without his own noticing, his mouth stretched into a huge beam.

Gavin's eyes welled, but he blinked away the salty wetness brimming at his lids. "Really?" he said, almost inaudibly, and with a crack in his voice, smiling so happily that Michael thought his own heart might burst just from looking at him. Michael nodded. He did. He really, truly did. Gavin looked down at his shoes, and back into Michael's eyes. His next words were laughs. "You love me and I love you?"

Michael laughed and nodded again, biting his lip because he needed _something_ to do with his lip if Gavin wasn't going to kiss it. "Yes, Gavin. You love me and I love you."

Gavin barely contained his giggle of delight, as if he couldn't get enough of listening to the word _love_. "I love you, too," he repeated obviously, and then kissed Michael.

Whereas Gavin's kiss had been soft and sweet before, this kiss was more aggressive, and more explicitly seductive. Michael barely had time to gasp for air in between Gavin's lips, feeling Gavin's tongue run along his bottom lip, and getting goosebumps on his arm when he felt Gavin bite, ever so softly, on the very lip Michael had himself been biting not moments before.

Gavin pulled away all too soon, looking deep into Michael's eyes, and Michael looking into Gavin's eyes, and both of them were just _being_ there. Gavin looked down, and Michael could have sworn he actually saw him blush. Still the ever-rare and most pleasing sight.

After a moment, Gavin said, "Do you want to?"

Michael tried to respond with, "Yes," but his voice hilariously caught in his own throat and all that came out was a squeak. He cleared his throat, ignoring Gavin's teasing smile, and said, as professionally as he could manage, "Yes. Yes, I do."

And then Gavin and Michael kissed again, and Michael's brain shut off somehow, because all he was thinking was about the person he was kissing, the person whose lips were grazing his own, fitting together perfectly, like puzzle pieces, and somehow Michael and Gavin, not two separate people but one entity, stumbled backwards down the hall and into Michael's bedroom.

* * *

Gavin fell backwards, still kissing Michael passionately until he practically tripped over the bed, landing flat on his back and laughing, partly because it was so funny, and partly because Michael's laugh itself was contagious. Their laughter ricocheted against the walls, bouncing off the angles and objects in the room until they couldn't tell whose laughter was whose anymore. Gavin observed that Michael had never looked – for lack of a better word – more _beautiful_, the light from the cheery midday sun streaming in through incorrectly-closed blinds. Streaks of light illuminated his red hair, the soft pink in his cheeks and the ever softer pink of his perfect, _perfect_ lips.

They'd stopped laughing but they hadn't stopped smiling. Michael, who was blushing as he hovered above Gavin with his hands and knees on either side of the Brit's body, was also looking down lovingly at his boyfriend. Gavin reached up slowly and played with a fiery curl dangling from Michael's forehead.

Michael's face suddenly turned from one of complete and whole loving adoration for Gavin, to one of realization. His eyes widening, he blushed even more furiously.

"Uh, Gavin?"

Gavin cocked his head slightly the way he did when he was confused. "What is it?"

"It's…well, it's…uh, do we have a…_um_," Michael stammered. Gavin raised an eyebrow. "It's, I mean – I know we're both, uh, dudes. But if we…you know, there's stuff that we have to be careful about, and um…well, do you have one?" Michael's face was as red as his hair. He watched Gavin, waiting for a reaction.

Gavin finally understood. "Oh," he laughed, and then pulled a packaged condom out of his pocket. "This?"

Michael nodded, and then, trying to bring the attention away from his own flaming embarrassment, he teased, "Gavin _Free_. Did you _expect_ to get laid?"

"Oh, shut up, Michael," Gavin laughed, and then pulled Michael down by his collar to start kissing him again.

Michael kissed Gavin's lips softly, his brain shutting off and the only functioning thought running through his mind being _oh my god oh my god oh my god_. Gavin's hands found their way from Michael's collar to Michael's shoulders to either side of Michael's back, and Michael felt the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck raise as Gavin dug his fingernails into his shirt. He slowly kissed Gavin's lips, and then the corners of his mouth, and moved along his jawline until he was kissing his neck, and Gavin was gasping. _Gasping_. Everything in his brain was blurry, but Michael was certain that he heard a moan escape from Gavin, accompanied by a small yelp as Michael bit softly.

"Sorry," Michael said quickly, laughing a bit.

Gavin laughed too, muttering, "It's okay," before Michael continued kissing him, his neck, his collarbone, every inch of Gavin's skin he could taste and touch and _feel_. Michael was a little disappointed when Gavin removed his hands from his back, but the disappointment quickly faded as they went down to Michael's waist, grabbing his shirt and slowly pulling it up, over Michael's head. Michael wriggled awkwardly out of the shirt, tossed it aside, and helped Gavin with his own shirt, which was a button-down. He and Gavin were both almost comically solemn as they worked the buttons down, and eventually the shirt came off, and they tossed it aside, and then it was just another thing that was not Michael and Gavin.

Gavin pressed his hand on Michael's chest, and Michael could feel his own breathing becoming heavy, gasping. Michael's hand danced along Gavin's side, running up and down his abdomen and chest, not really touching Gavin with his hand, but _feeling_ him, all the curves and warmth of his body. Gavin's hand moved down to rest on Michael's hipbone, and even the pressure Gavin used in certain fingers to press into Michael's skin was turning him on.

Michael kissed Gavin, the scruff on his face, his neck, the place where his neck met his shoulder, his collarbone – it seemed that the more of Gavin he kissed, the more of him he needed.

Gavin let out the most erotic sigh Michael had ever heard, and his blood pulsed and rushed and quickened when he heard it was his own name Gavin had sighed. Michael's hands moved from Gavin's shoulders down to his lower abdomen, and met with Gavin's jeans. Michael, still kissing Gavin softly, still marveling at the feeling of Gavin's warm skin under his lips, undid the button and zipper of Gavin's pants. Gavin reciprocated, undoing Michael's own jeans almost tenderly, his soft fingers grazing Michael's skin and making him dizzy.

Gavin kicked his own pants off while Michael removed his, and once the two pairs of pants were just other things that were not Michael and Gavin, their lips were together again, and Michael was pulling off his boxers, and Gavin was wriggling out of his, and they were naked and together and _there_, and neither one could even believe it was happening. It was like a wet dream, or something. It had to be a wet dream. But it wasn't. It was real, and it was happening, and holy fucking shit.

Michael looked down into Gavin's eyes with blurry, steamy vision, and saw that Gavin had a sedated look, a sweet smile etched on his face as he slurred the three words almost inaudibly at Michael, and Michael smiled and slurred his four-word response, and then he put on the condom while Gavin waited patiently, neither one embarrassed anymore, or nervous, or blushing, but just with each other, which was the only thing that mattered. Michael kissed Gavin's lips again, running his tongue along Gavin's teeth, his bottom lip, a few moans escaping from himself that made Gavin gasp even more desperately for air.

And Gavin turned around, laying on his stomach on the bed, and his eyes were only half-open, his cheeks flushed red and his nails digging into the mattress. He sighed again: "_Michael_," and Michael sighed in response, "_Gavin_," and then it was happening.

Michael barely contained a moan as he thrust up into Gavin, and for a moment, he almost forgot to breathe as Gavin gasped and sighed and dug his nails into the mattress, their hearts synching in fast-paced rhythm. Michael's hands, on either side of Gavin's torso, clenched, grabbing handfuls of the sheets along with it. Michael bit his lip so hard it bled as Gavin let the moans escape more freely, and couldn't help but moan himself, and it was happening. _Oh, my god. We are. We're doing it_. Michael tried to hide his own shaky breaths, and on some level of comprehension he understood that Gavin was trying just as hard to keep his breathing steady, but neither of them were doing a very good job. Gavin let out between a moan and a yelp as Michael thrust again, and one of Michael's hands went from the bedsheet to holding tightly onto Gavin's shoulder.

Gavin's hands moved up the bed until they met with the headboard, and then moved up the headboard until they clung so tightly to it that they turned white. Michael's own hand moved from gripping onto Gavin's shoulder, to sliding down his back and down and around his torso, pressing their bodies closer together, feeling Gavin's stunted, desperate breaths. Gavin arched his back, moving even closer towards Michael, and Michael pressed his lips gently against the upper middle of Gavin's back, feeling Gav's skin break out into goosebumps under his own soft lips.

Michael moved up into Gavin again, biting the inside of his cheek as Gavin let out a legitimate squeal – _fuck_ – and his hands tightened on the headboard of Michael's bed. Michael felt the world melting away from him, dripping down like a watercolor painting that now consisted of nothing but Gavin and himself. Over the sound of his own desperate panting, and Gavin's gasps for air and his sighs and his squeaks and all his wonderful little sex noises, Michael heard music. He realized somewhere deep in the corners of his mind, that he had been playing an Owl City playlist from his iPod before Gavin came over, and now the sounds of the singer's voice resonated throughout the room. It bounced off the walls and off the boyfriends and off all of the things that were not Michael and Gavin, and they loved each other in the midst of all that music and gasps and moans and squeaks and the light from the noonday sun.

Michael's eyes brimmed, and he blinked hard, but he couldn't process thought or anything, really, except Gavin. Gavin said something quietly, and then yelped, saying it louder. "Michael – I'm going – I think I'm gonna—" and Michael could see Gavin was trying his hardest to keep himself together, barely able to form a sentence, the yelps coming out with even more frequency. Michael was close to the edge, too, his heart racing fast, his thoughts blurring, his (now shameless) moans mixing with the music and sweat and steam and light.

Michael pressed his lips into Gavin's back again, except this time he accidentally bit Gavin a little, causing the Brit to erupt into a tiny cry of, "_Michael!_" Michael's hand, still on Gavin's stomach, pressed a little harder into Gavin's warm, soft skin, his lips pressing harder into his back, and Gavin said, "Michael – I'm gonna– _aah_!" With a moan that pushed Michael over the edge too, causing him to let out a groan of his own, Gavin came. Michael panted, gasping for air, and then felt himself let go, too. The release was so intoxicating he'd have wondered if he had actually been drinking, if he'd had enough mental capacity to wonder about anything.

With a heaving sigh, Gavin and Michael both collapsed, one next to the other, and Gavin turned his head so it was facing Michael, even though his eyes were closed. Michael tried to keep his eyes open, too, but he was so utterly spent he almost couldn't breathe.

For a minute, they lay there, panting, and panting, and hearing Owl City but not really listening to him, because their theme song was not what was just playing on Michael's boombox; it was everything around them, the sound of their panting, and their sweat escaping their pores, and their boxers, laying on the floor, and their nails, which still dug into the mattress. The dust danced around in the air for a while, disappearing as they transitioned gracefully from light into darkness, and once Michael was able to open his eyes, he watched them. Gavin opened his eyes, too, and watched Michael's hair, which had sunlight streaming through it and lit it up so brilliantly it was as if it was aflame.

Gavin watched Michael's stomach move up and down as he panted, and then Michael turned to him and noticed him watching, and Gavin's own rapid panting, and moved a hand towards him, not really with an intent to pull him closer but just to touch him, and he ended up wriggling closer to Gavin and putting a hand under his chin and leading him up to Michael's lips.

Michael pulled away and his head collapsed again on the pillow. "Holy shit," he said simply. Gavin laughed as he turned around to lay on his back, too, watching the ceiling and the dancing specks of light like Michael was.

"I know," Gavin said.

"That was—"

"—amazing."

"Totally."

"Brilliant."

"Holy _fuck_, it was."

"Your hipbones are nice."

"Your torso in general is just…wow."

"I can't believe we just—"

"I know," Michael said, and he felt Gavin's fingers thread through his own. "Me neither."

"That was—"

"—Top," Michael and Gavin said at the same time, and then they looked at each other and laughed, and lay in bed together, and panted, and watched dust dance through the air, and talked about nothing but spoke about _everything_, and loved each other.

* * *

Michael wasn't sure when they both fell asleep, but when they woke up it was 4:00. Good thing it was a Saturday. Michael scooted closer to Gavin, wrapping an arm around him, feeling Gavin's warm skin against his own. Through half-closed, half-open eyes, he noticed the way that Gavin slept, with his lips slightly parted, a small smile etched onto his face, so miniscule Michael wasn't sure if it was real.

_I desperately need you_, Owl City sang.

_Damn straight_, Michael thought, and moved his head closer to Gavin's chest.

Gavin woke up a while later, his eyes opening and blinking several times before they finally focused on Michael and he smiled. He leaned over to kiss the corner of his mouth. "Hi, Michael."

"Mmm," Michael murmured, smiling.

"You had sex with me," Gavin teased in a singsong voice.

Michael laughed through his nose. "Only 'cause _you_ had sex with _me_."

"What time is it?" Gavin asked, and Michael knew what was coming, because he couldn't fucking stay, and it was like being stabbed. It felt like someone had just fucking stabbed him.

"It's 4:00," replied Michael sullenly.

"Bollocks."

"I know."

"I have to go soon."

"No."

"Yes."

"Nah."

"Yes."

"Just stay with me," Michael pleaded, pulling Gavin closer to him (or at least, getting rid of the hair of space left between them yet). "Just a little longer, okay?"

Gavin nodded and leaned his head on Michael's, breathing deeply and kissing Michael's forehead, and Michael heard Gavin's heart, and his own heart in his ears, and they were synching.

* * *

But Gavin did have to leave, because he said he'd only be at Michael's a couple hours (albeit an eventful couple of hours) and he had to go record, and they couldn't get Geoff suspicious, and everything was working against them just lying in bed together listening to Owl City and breathing.

Gavin put on his clothes, and Michael couldn't help but check out Gavin's ass. _That is a nice ass_, he thought.

They went from the bedroom to the living room as slowly as possible, prolonging the inevitable, and then Gavin was at the door, and he'd run out of places he could walk to, except out of it. Again.

He opened the door and leaned on the frame, his hair a mess, his face slightly red, his clothing disheveled. He looked at Michael, who probably looked similar, and said:

"I'll see you later, Michael."

Michael swallowed. "Yeah. See ya, Gavin."

"I love you, Michael Jones."

"I love _you_, Gavin Free."

And Gavin appeared to be satisfied with that, because he walked out the door and closed it softly behind him. Michael thought for a moment he might come in a give him a kiss, but if Gavin came back in, he'd never want to go out again, and he must have known that, because he didn't. But about twenty seconds later Michael got a text.

* * *

**Gavin Free:**

I love you.

**Me:**

I love you, too.

**Gavin Free:**

Okay, bye. Love you.

**Me:**

You already said that ;)

**Gavin Free:**

Well, I do.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

A little doing of the do never hurt nobody.

I so hope it was worth the wait. Please forgive me. I just want to thank you guys for being patient. The updates will probably never be more than two weeks late. In fact, I can say that with a lot of confidence. Just check in, and there'll be a nice chapter fresh out the oven waiting for you, hopefully within a couple days!

Thank you guys so much. Hope you liked it! :)

(also celebrating 5,000 views oh my god seriously guys seriously I can't with you)


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Michael sat at the computer and tried his damnedest not to blush furiously at the mere thought of Gavin. Of course, his face was red as ever as he clicked into the editing software. He'd just finished recording a Rage Quit, albeit one that had a little less zeal in it than usual.

He clicked.

_Gavin and I did it._

He clicked again.

_Gavin._

He practically squeaked as he remembered doing it with Gavin, running a hand through his own rich red hair and imagining it was Gavin's sandy, spiky brown locks. Michael took the time to be especially thankful that no one else was in the room with him. He remembered the warmth of Gavin's body against his own, his half-closed eyes blinking sleepily into the seeping afternoon light. God, Gavin was perfect. And handsome. With a nice ass. And midsection. And Michael and him had done it. And it had been absolutely perfect.

Michael closed out of the editing software, fully aware that he wasn't going to be able to get any work done if all he could do was think about Gavin. He'd wanted to give Gavin a present all morning, just for existing, but how clingy and weird would that be? And how was he supposed to be around Gavin at all now? If he thought it was difficult to hide their relationship before, it was practically the ninth ring of _hell_ now. He and Gavin could barely take their eyes off each other that morning when they'd met up before Michael went to go record. It was only a matter of time before Rooster Teeth found out.

Which was another problem. It seemed like a bad idea to tell the rest of the employees, but how long would it be until they found out? They couldn't just hide it forever, could they? Eventually, the word was going to get out. And what then? The entire reason that Michael and Gavin had hidden their relationship from the employees was because they were worried they might not be cool with that kind of thing. But now that Michael and Gavin were having a harder and harder time not being discreet about it, it seemed like every person who smiled at them or glanced at them over their morning cup of coffee knew their secret.

Michael brushed those thoughts aside. He didn't want to think about the complications of the future. He only wanted to focus on now, on Gavin. He realized he was smiling as he remembered Gavin's words from that weekend.

_I'm in love with you, Michael._

Gavin loved him. He really, truly loved him, and Michael sure as fuck loved him back.

_I never got a chance to tell you before,_ Gavin had said. _And I am, Michael Jones._

_I am too, Gavin Free,_ Michael thought longingly, wishing Gavin were in the room with him, hearing his thoughts. _You have no idea how much._

Michael nearly jumped out of his own skin when the door behind him creaked open. Swinging around, barely containing his blush, he got an eyeful of Gavin's tight, black shirt, and felt his ears grow warm.

"Gavin!" he exclaimed, like an idiot.

"Hi, Michael," Gavin cooed from the door. Michael smiled as he realized Gavin was blushing, too. "Are you done recording? Can I come in?"

"Uh—yeah, yeah, I'm done in—uh, done recording. You can come. Uh, inside, I mean. _Into the room_." With a flustered, hot face, Michael swiveled his chair around to face the beaming Brit.

Gavin practically pranced over and kissed Michael on the lips. Michael was certain the small kiss was only supposed to last a couple seconds, but Gavin and himself got lost between each other's lips, sighing deeply through their noses and pulling each other closer until they remembered that anyone could walk into the room at any second. Pulling away, Michael and Gavin smiled lovingly at each other for a few seconds, neither of them saying a word. Then, Michael said softly, "Hey, Gavin."

"Hi, Michael."

"You look good today, Gavin."

"So do you."

Gavin sat on Michael's lap, a fact that Michael was desperately trying to ignore. He didn't want to walk out of the room with a hard-on. Everyone might see.

"So, um…that weekend was…it was, uh, brilliant," Gavin stammered, resting one hand on Michael's shoulder while the other one moved up and down Michael's bicep, gliding across Michael's soft, light skin.

"Yeah, it was…just…amazing," Michael agreed just as awkwardly, looking at Gavin's face with all the adoration in the world. He used a hand to gently pull Gavin's chin towards his own, and settled him into a soft, sweet kiss. When they pulled away, Michael said, "I love you." It felt so good to be able to say those words to Gavin and know that Gavin felt the same way.

"I love _you_," Gavin insisted. He suddenly looked around and appeared to listen very carefully for a couple of seconds, and then turned back to Michael and said, "You know, this room is empty."

Michael's eyes widened as he realized what Gavin was suggesting. "Gavin _Free_," he scolded. "You're not asking if we can—?"

A mischievous glint sparkled in Gavin's eye. "D'you think so?"

"Of course not!" Michael hated himself for how red his face was.

Gavin ran a hand down Michael's chest. Fuck, he was sexy. "Why not?" he whimpered. Michael knew Gavin was just trying to annoy him, but it was difficult to focus when Gavin's cologne was seeping up into his brain and his hand was on his chest and the Brit was only inches away.

"Anyone could walk in and find us, for one," Michael said.

Gavin sighed. "Well I guess that can wait till later."

"Yeah, it can," Michael said, his voice cracking more than once in a three-word sentence. "Uh, _soon_ later."

"_Really soon_ later," Gavin agreed in a husky, seductive tone, and then leaned down again to connect his pink lips with Michael's.

The door opened. Ray boisterously announced his presence, and Michael and Gavin both almost jumped out of their own shoes. Gavin jumped out of Michael's chair, trying to look nonchalant while leaning against the desk, his hair a mess, his face flustered.

"You two touchin' butts in here?" Ray asked, leaning against the door frame.

"We were – uh, we, um," stammered Michael.

"Discussing!" Gavin exclaimed.

"Discussing the, uh…"

"New Rage Quit."

"The new Rage Quit."

Ray laughed. "You guys suck at hiding your makeout sessions," he said. "Why do you two need to do this in the _office_? Don't you both have at least a room or _something_?"

"Shut up, Ray," Michael and Gavin said in unison.

Ray held his hands up apologetically. "All right, all right. I came in here to play Halo, but if you two need to have a moment, then I can—"

Michael stood up. "Shut up, Ray," he said again. He turned to Gavin. "Come on, Gavin." He stalked out of the room, his chipper Brit trailing confusedly behind him.

Ray shook his head and smiled. "Goddamn," he whispered as he sat down at his desk and started up his Xbox.

* * *

Ray had been playing Halo for a couple hours and decided he was just about finished when he heard the door open. He looked up and smiled. "Hey, Caleb."

"Hi, Ray," Caleb greeted him sweetly. "Everything good? Why are you in here all by yourself?"

"Those idiots Michael and Gavin were supposed to edit something, but they left to go bang," Ray half-joked. Caleb laughed, as if it was a full-joke.

"So the Rage Quit isn't done?"

"I think it actually might be. I'm pretty sure that's what they said," Ray said as he absently whipped out his phone to check Twitter.

Caleb nodded and strolled towards Michael's computer. He clicked, bringing the monitor back to life and realized Michael had accidentally left the recording equipment on.

"Aw, man," Caleb sighed, then sat down in Michael's chair. Caleb decided to have a listen to the new Rage Quit while Michael was gone, and hopefully figure out where the raging audio ended and the all the useless stuff began.

Ray scrolled on Twitter for a while until he heard barely-suppressed laughter. He looked up and saw Caleb, struggling to hold in guffaws as he listened with headphones to the recording of the Rage Quit.

"Is it funny?" Ray asked, already laughing.

"Oh, my god," Caleb chuckled. "Oh, my god. I love the Rage Quits. This is hilarious." He continued laughing, and Ray smiled and looked back down at his phone.

After twenty minutes of Caleb laughing on and off at Michael's righteous rage at that week's newest indie game, the laughter quieted down and Ray looked up again. Caleb was listening carefully to the recording.

"It must be over," Caleb said. "Michael's stopped – oh, wait. Is he…_squealing_?"

"The fuck?" Ray said, but Caleb didn't hear him.

Caleb smiled at Ray. "Oh. Gavin just walked in."

Ray's eyes widened as he realized what had happened. "Whoa, okay. Caleb."

Caleb's eyes were on the ceiling as he listened carefully to the recording. He smiled faintly. "They're telling each other they look good today. They really are best frie—oh, what happened this weekend?"

Ray put his phone slowly in his pocket and stood up, holding out a hand as if he was telling Caleb to be careful. "Caleb, okay. Just put the headphones down. I've got a story."

Caleb's face then turned from a look of amusement to a look of utter confusion and horror. "Wait – _what_?!"

"Damn it, Caleb, take off the headphones!"

"_What do you mean 'this room is empty'_?!" Caleb exclaimed, still listening to the recording, but with terror etched onto his face. "_What are you going to—?!_"

"Caleb, if you don't _shut the fuck up_—" Ray warned, using his serious face.

"Ahh!" Caleb screamed, taking his headphones off and putting them on the desk. "Ahh! What is—?! I—_ahh_!"

"God _fucking_ damn it!" Ray muttered under his breath, and then put a hand over Caleb's mouth and another one around his arm, and dragged him out of the room and down the hall.

Jordan was coming out of the break room to see what the commotion was. "Ray? Caleb? What's going on?"

"It's fine, everything's good," Ray said, dragging a struggling Caleb down the hall. "You look good today, Jordan. You look good."

Finding an empty storage room, Ray and Caleb stumbled through the door. Caleb took a few seconds to catch his breath as Ray closed the door behind them, making sure no one had followed them.

"What the _hell_?!" hissed Caleb, apparently getting the message that he needed to be quiet. "Michael and Gavin?!"

"Look, man," Ray began. "It's true, all right? Hey, look at me. It's true."

"True?" Caleb repeated blankly, his face in the middle of confusion and disbelief. "But how—I mean, how long—how—?"

"As far as I know," Ray said, trying to keep his voice down to a whisper, "They got together two days after Michael's birthday."

"Michael's _birthday_?!"

"_Shh_!"

Caleb looked down at the ground with wide eyes, trying to decipher all the new information. He looked up at Ray suddenly. "I knew it. I _knew_ they were making out! Shit. Michael's birthday."

"I know," Ray said. "I know. Mavin, dude."

Caleb smiled weakly, still in a state of slight disbelief, his eyes still wide, but with a bit more calmness to his disposition. "Well…why didn't they tell us?"

Ray smiled. "Because they knew you guys would freak. You know, like how you just did?"

Caleb looked embarrassed. "All right, all right. Fine. But it's just, you know. A lot to get used to."

"But they're really happy, I think."

"Gavin and Michael," Caleb said softly, shaking his head. "That's—crazy. I just…"

Ray sensed a red flag. "Wait. Dude, you're not, uh…_against_ this kind of thing, right?"

Caleb looked up at him blankly for a moment, and then shook his head. "What? No, of course not! It wasn't the gay thing, it was the _Michael and Gavin_ thing. We've just known them for such a long time that…wow. Michael and Gavin."

"Caleb," Ray said, seriousness returning to his voice. "Listen. You cannot tell _anyone_ about this."

Caleb's face fell. "What? I'm supposed to hide this? No. I gotta tell someone about this!"

"I will fucking kill you," Ray warned. "If you tell anyone, I'll kill you, and then Michael will kill you. And then Gavin will _try_ to kill you. That's how dead you'll be."

"But," Caleb said, looking hopeless. "But I can't just keep this a secret! What if we all get fired?"

"It'll be all right," Ray insisted. "They'll tell everyone eventually. But they're trying to figure out how to do that shit, so until then, we're not telling _anyone_, all right?"

Caleb tentatively nodded. "I guess. But I'm a bad liar."

"You don't have to lie," Ray said. "You just have to not say anything."

Caleb shrugged, looking crestfallen. "I guess so."

Ray sighed, letting the shoulders in his muscles relax. "Good."

"So they're really happy with each other, huh?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think they are."

Caleb smiled. "Good. Because I'm going to kick both their asses for not telling me."

* * *

Author's Note:

Wow I should win an award for being the person who updates least often. I'M SO SORRY GUYS _**PLEASE FORGIVE ME**_. I've also had people express concerns that this fic might be over. It's not. It's not over. I just took a really long break because I'm an idiot with poor time management? But the updates will come, and they will begin to come sooner and sooner. I'm sorry!

Anyways, I'll be up soon with a brand new chapter! Thanks for all your patience! You guys really are the best. And here's to 6,000 views!


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